Pasquotank County residents appear to be dying at a higher rate than the rest of the state and nation from pneumonia, AIDS and cancer, while residents are having a harder time keeping up with rising health care costs, according to a local health study.

That's one conclusion drawn from a nine-month Community Health Assessment conducted by Albemarle Regional Health Services.

A synopsis of the 250-page report was presented to City Council Monday night by Amy N. Cowan of ARHS.

She said a report is required every four years by the Governor's Task Force for Healthy Carolinians. The aim is to identify needs and to track a community's progress in meeting health care needs, she said.

The Healthy Carolinians of the Albemarle is a regional coalition that represents Camden, Currituck, Pasquotank and Perquimans counties.

Cowan presented highlights from Pasquotank County's part of the assessment, in which 723 respondents participated.

She said participants included men, women and those of all ages and ethnic and racial backgrounds. However, most of the respondents were educated white females, she said.

Full results of the assessment will be made available at libraries and other public places, she said.

She acknowledged the report is not a true scientific survey in which every segment of population was proportionately represented.

Councilman Johnnie Walton, who previously criticized a city-wide racial bias survey, also urged caution in jumping to conclusions with Cowan's report Monday night.

Among Cowan's findings, Pasquotank County has higher "age-adjusted" mortality rates than the rest of North Carolina and the United States for:

l Pneumonia/influenza, by 63 percent and 72 percent respectively.

l HIV/AIDS, by 19 percent and 43 percent.

l Chronic lower respiratory disease, by 9 percent and 16 percent.

l Total cancer, by 5 percent and 8 percent.

l Diabetes, by 4 percent and 13 percent.

Although actual numbers were not listed in her summary, Cowan said the leading causes of death in Pasquotank County, in order, are heart disease, total cancer, cerebrovascular disease, chronic lower respiratory disease, pneumonia and influenza and diabetes.

Meanwhile, a majority of the respondents, 78 percent, indicated that drug abuse was an important unhealthy behavior. Other unhealthy behaviors mentioned were alcohol abuse, smoking and tobacco use, poor eating habits, lack of exercise, having unsafe sex, not going to the doctor for checks and reckless or drunk driving.

Under-employment was listed as the most important community concern by 68.9 percent of those questioned.

Of those who needed medical care in the past 12 months, 41.1 percent said they couldn't afford it, and 41.1 percent said they did not have health insurance.

Also, 20.8 percent said they had trouble getting needed dental care in the past 12 months, and that not having dental insurance was the leading barrier to getting needed dental care.

The report states that Pasquotank County continues to lag behind state and national income averages.