Apr 2, 2015 By David Singer 2 min read

A report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found Allegheny County has jumped from number 40 to 34 in overall quality and longevity of life among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. The report, using data from 2010-12, also found the county fell from number 15 to 19 in health factors, such as violent crime and air pollution.

“Some of these are not surprising, and things we’re working on and making improvements to, like our air quality,” said Allegheny County Health Director Dr. Karen Hacker.

One of the biggest improvements was a decrease in premature deaths, or death before age 75. There were 6,983 premature deaths in the data period, the latest numbers showing a consistent downward trend from nearly 8,000 in 1999. One of the factors in premature death is obesity.

“It’s something I’m personally interested in curtailing … also saw physical inactivity not necessarily increasing, but it’s not going down, either,” Dr. Hacker said. Obesity was recorded at a 27 percent rate among adults, while prolonged inactivity was estimated at 24 percent, each around the state’s averages.

Only half of female Allegheny County residents had sought or continued to get preventative mammography screenings, while the state average is 63 percent.

“It’s important to remember this data was before the rollout of the Affordable Healthcare Act, so insurance and access to care may have been a contributing factor to those numbers,” Hacker said, “while it’s still confusing to some women about proper scheduling of mammographies and how often you should get screened.”

The instances of sexually transmitted diseases also beat out the state’s average of 431 at 524 cases of chlamydia per 100,000 residents. The report did not note instances of other STDs.

“We’re particularly concerned with an increase in syphilis, and among the subsets of male to male sexual partners where it seems to be spreading,” Hacker said.

Dr. Hacker said that the health department will conduct its own 18-month survey later this year to better understand where to direct healthcare efforts.

Washington County is one slot ahead of Allegheny County at number 33 for overall quality and longevity of life, yet recorded similar rates of obesity, physical inactivity and other preventative health care factors, but had more premature deaths totaling 7,074.

For complete reports on each county, visit www.countyhealthrankings.org.