State differences in reported healthy days among adults--United States, 1993-1996.

Traditional population health measures, such as infant mortality rates, vaccination rates, and average life expectancy, have emphasized morbidity and mortality. During the past decade, weighted indices of population health (e.g., years of healthy life and disability-adjusted life-years), which combine life expectancy with aspects of health-related quality of life (HRQOL), have provided more comprehensive summary measures. To meet the need for a less complex measure that is more sensitive to local variations in population health, CDC developed the "healthy days" index. This HRQOL index tracks the number of healthy days (i.e., days when persons' physical and mental health were both good) during the preceding 30 days for a specific population. This report describes state differences for 1993-1996 in the mean number of healthy days reported by adults, including large differences within each state by level of formal education.