The results of a recently released New Hanover County Health Department Community Health Assessment, conducted in 2015, reveals that county residents are most concerned with reducing obesity, reducing excessive drinking rates and alcohol-impaired driving deaths and reducing the unintentional poisoning death rate from the abuse of prescription and illegal drugs.

The Community Health Assessment is conducted every four years to evaluate the health status of the county.

This fall, county health department staff submitted action plans to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to address the top three priorities.

Working with community partners such as Smart Start of New Hanover County, N.C. Harm Reduction and the Cape Fear Coalition for a Drug Free Tomorrow, the county health department is in the process of implementing action plans, according to officials.

The Community Health Assessment survey was conducted between June and October 2015 at various community locations and online.

Community partners helped promote the survey on their websites and provided paper copies for survey completion. About 2,000 residents contributed to the data collection efforts, “offering valuable and current information about the county’s health,” the news release said.

Information gleaned from the health assessment shows health problems New Hanover County residents consider are “most significantly impacting quality of life” include violent crimes, at 38 percent; traffic congestion, 37 percent; and drug or alcohol abuse, 29 percent.

Considering the self-reported height and weight of the participants, 60 percent would be classified as either overweight or obese in the body mass index chart, according to the survey. In the area of health care access and utilization, 84 percent of respondents indicated that they have a primary care physician, and 70 percent said that when sick, they visit the doctor’s office most frequently. Only 13 percent indicated they had trouble in the past 12 months receiving health care.

Another behavioral health finding was that 1,077 people, or 68 percent, said they have used a prescription drug that was prescribed to them within the last 30 days. In contrast, 37 people, or 2 percent, of survey-takers said they used a medication that was not prescribed for them within the last 30 days.

A total of 57 people, or 3 percent, said they have used a drug classified as illegal in the past 30 days.