A quintile is simply one-fifth of a ranked list. In the Community Data Profiles, quintiles are determined by ranking counties in order by rate. For positive and negative indicators, the first quintile represents the preferred health outcome rates. The quintile rank assigned differs based on whether the indicator is positive or negative. For positive indicators, such as first trimester prenatal care, having a high rate is preferred. In this case, the rates are assigned to quintiles such that the highest rates are in the first quintile and the lowest rates are in the 5th quintile. For negative indicators, such as injury hospitalizations resulting from child abuse, having a low rate is preferred. In this case, the rates for each county are assigned such that the lowest rates are in the first quintile and the highest rates are in the 5th quintile. Neutral indicators are treated the same as positive indicators, so counties with the highest rates would be assigned a quintile of 1. An example of a neutral indicator on the Child Health Profile is the Population Estimates for 15-17 year olds. The quintile ranking is based on the percent of children 15-17, with the denominator being the entire population. Click for a full list of positive and neutral indicators.

A full list of positive and neutral indicators can be found here. Consider any indicator not listed to have a more negative outcome.

Quintile Positive/Neutral Indicator Rates Positive Ranks Negative Indicator Rates Negative Ranks
1 93-115 Highest rates 1-23 Lowest rates
2 70-92 24-46
3 47-69 47-69
4 24-46 70-92
5 1-23 Lowest rates 93-115 Highest

Since Missouri has 115 counties (including the City of St. Louis, which is an independent city), there are 23 counties in each quintile. In cases where the numbers of events are small, a county may fall into the highest or lowest quintile on the basis of a few events, even if the underlying true rate is not particularly high or low. Therefore, quintiles are not shown if more than half of the counties have 20 or fewer events. A value of 'N' or a blank is displayed to indicate this.