New website compiles health data, and some news is good

Oklahoma has improved on 18 major health measures, ranging from the percentage of adults who smoke to the number of babies who die in their first year of life, but it’s a little early to celebrate.

The state went in the wrong direction on 12 other health measures, according the new State of the State website and the last report, which was released in 2014.

The website, StateOf StatesHealth.ok.gov, allows the public to pull up information about how Oklahoma compares to the rest of the country on about 50 healthrelated metrics. It isn’t possible to compare all the metrics to the previous report, because some new measures have been added and others have been dropped or changed.

The site also includes information about specific counties and demographic groups based on race, income, educational attainment and age.

Tom Bates, interim commissioner of the Oklahoma State Department of Health, told reporters at an announcement Monday that the website replaces a report that was updated every three years.

Making the information more current and accessible

should help policymakers with decisions about health, he said.

“There’s no shortage of data collected across state government,” he said. “The question is, can you turn that data into a form that’s available to the public and drives decision-making?”

A dive into the data yields some good news. The total death rate, adjusted for age, shows that Oklahomans now are less likely to die prematurely than they were a few years ago.

The death rates for seven major causes, including heart disease and cancer, also declined.

Unfortunately, deaths rose for four other causes: unintentional injuries, diabetes, suicide and Alzheimer’s disease.

Oklahomans’ health behaviors also were a mixed bag. Residents were more likely to eat vegetables at least once per day and less likely to smoke. On the other hand, they were less likely to eat fruit, slightly more likely to report getting no

exercise and a bit more likely to be obese, though some health watchers are encouraged that the obesity

rate isn’t climbing as fast as it was earlier in the decade.

The report included some good news for the youngest Oklahomans. Babies were less likely to die before their first birthdays, though the infant mortality rate still is high when compared to other states.

They were also less likely to be born too small, to a teen mom, or to a mother who hadn’t received prenatal care early in her pregnancy.

The rates of Oklahomans in poverty or living without health insurance also fell, which can improve the odds people will get appropriate care. At the same time, however, the percentage of Oklahomans who said they were in good health declined, as did the percentage who said they had a normal health care provider.

Dr. Scott Stewart, a member of the board that oversees the Health Department, said the data will guide organizations looking to tackle the most important health needs in their areas. It also shows some improvements in Oklahoma’s health since 2014, though plenty of work remains, he said.

“Oklahoma has no shortage of areas that need work,” he said.