Residents of Queens County are among the healthiest in the state, even though they suffer from inadequate health care, according to a report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The report, released on Wednesday, February 17, was the result of an extensive study, which ranked every county in the nation according to a series of health related data and the social factors, which influence them.
Of the 62 counties in New York State, Queens ranked 22nd in the overall rate for illness and death – relatively high, especially among the five boroughs. Queens also ranked eighth in the least amount of premature deaths – deaths before the age of 75 – a good indication of longevity amongst borough residents.
The long life results could be connected to another good ranking in some of the most serious health risk behaviors, including smoking, adult obesity, binge drinking and others.
Despite the fairly good finish, the report also showed that Queens had a lot of room to improve, with a particularly poor rank in clinical care. The borough ranked 48th in factors such as uninsured adults, diabetic screening and preventable hospital stays, among others.
Queens was also ranked in the middle of the pack for social and economic factors, which include high school graduation, college degrees, unemployment, income inequality and violent crime rate. Though, Queens’s low rank in areas such as income inequality could be resultant of the borough’s extremely diverse population and neighborhoods, with million dollar homes being found just a short car ride from far poorer areas.
Overall for the city, Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island (Richmond County) finished in the upper half in overall health outcomes, with Brooklyn and the Bronx finishing near the bottom. However, despite the differences in rank, most of the disparities between the city’s five boroughs have lessened in the last eight years.
According to a report from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, life expectancy rose in every borough for that time period. Smoking rates also plummeted throughout the city, which is an excellent indicator of future health trend improvements, as smoking is currently the leading cause of preventable death in the city. Infant deaths and AIDS related deaths also fell during that period.
For more information on how Queens and other counties throughout the nation ranked, visit www.countyhealthrankings.org
