Tulsa, Oklahoma City Ranked In Health Study

Tuesday, October 30th 2007, 10:08 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahoma City rates poorly for heart disease deaths and mothers who smoke, while Tulsa ranked high in suicides and homicides, according to a new report that analyzed 54 U.S. cities.

Tulsa and Oklahoma City were among the cities included in the 2007 ``Big Cities Health Inventory: The Health of Urban USA'' released on Monday.

The study says residents of U.S. cities face worse health indicators than the nation as a whole, including high rates of cardiac problems, lung cancer and gonorrhea.

Data was from 2004 and 2005. Health disparities also exist between racial and ethnic groups, the study noted.

Oklahoma City has poor rankings in heart-disease deaths, which are directly linked to its smoking and obesity rates, said Robert K. Jamison, deputy director of the Oklahoma City-County Health Department.

The city also has a high infant-mortality rate; it's ranked 11th worst out of the 54 cities in the study category.

That statistic is linked to low-birth weight infants and unmarried and uninsured pregnant women, said the Health Department official.

Oklahoma City fared poorly in motor-vehicle deaths and its suicide rate.

Among the cities studied, however, Oklahoma City gets passing grades for lowering the prevalence of HIV and AIDs and syphilis.

``Those primarily are sexually transmitted diseases, and our favorable ranking is related to an aggressive program a few years ago conducted by the Oklahoma City-County Health Department that focused on this disease by identifying and treating clients and their partners,'' Jamison said.

Tulsa had the study's 19th-highest percentage of mothers under age 20.

It ranked high in suicides, homicides and patients with diabetes and pneumonia.

But cancer rates, overall, decreased in Tulsa County.

``Given our higher-than-average smoking prevalence in this part of the country and knowing that respiratory-system cancers contribute heavily to the overall cancer deaths, we are fortunate to be ahead in these,'' said Dr. Gary Woodruff, assistant director of the Tulsa Health Department.

``Clearly we have to work in reducing deaths from automobile injuries, suicide, homicide and firearms.''

State Health Commissioner Dr. Mike Crutcher said Monday that many of the health issues confronting Oklahoma are shared by those living in both urban and rural areas that are linked to unhealthy personal behaviors.

``These behaviors include tobacco use, lack of physical activity and poor nutrition, which lead to obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer and other diseases,'' Crutcher said. ``Until we make significant improvements in these factors, the health of all Oklahomans is at risk.''