For immediate release: September 19, 2007 (07-154)

Contacts:
Joe Campo, Center for Health Statistics 360-236-4321
Jeff Smith, Communications Office 360-236-4072

OLYMPIA ¾ Western and south central Washington appear to have higher than expected heart disease and lung cancer mortality rates. The trends, particularly for the Grays Harbor, Tacoma and Yakima regions, indicate that the gap between those regions and the rest of the state is widening. Smoking is believed to be a leading factor.

"This is another indication that reducing tobacco use is among the best things we can do improve the health of state residents," said Secretary of Health, Mary Selecky. "We’re making progress and tobacco rates in Washington are dropping, yet I’m concerned about higher rates for some groups and people in certain areas of the state. Our tobacco quit line (www.quitline.com) — 1-800-QUIT-NOW — is a good resource to help people who want to quit smoking."

The findings are included in the Washington State Department of Health’s annual vital statistics report. The report reflects 2005 data, the most currently available for statistical analysis.

"Heart disease and lung cancer are two of the leading causes of death in Washington," said Joe Campo, research manager for the Center for Health Statistics. "And we’ve known that the occurrences of these diseases are not equally distributed across the state."

Campo, co-author of the report, used software developed by the National Cancer Institute to analyze death data at the local level. The report identified a large region in southwest Washington with 24 percent more lung cancer deaths than expected for the population of the area.

"That equals about 160 more lung cancer deaths per year than expected," Campo said.

An even larger region encompassing the southwest and south central part of the state was found to have nearly 450 more heart disease deaths per year than expected.

Tacoma and surrounding communities, as well as most of Yakima and Klickitat Counties, were specifically identified as having higher than expected heart disease deaths. Another portion of Pierce County, including Tacoma, plus a region that included most of Grays Harbor County and parts of Pacific and Mason Counties were also found to have more than expected lung cancer deaths.

The trends for those areas show the gap between places with the highest rates and the rest of the state is widening. With heart disease, for instance, the rate in the Tacoma area in 1990 was about 30 percent higher than the rate in the rest of the state; by 2005 it was 50 percent higher.

Equally pronounced were the differences in trends for lung cancer in the Grays Harbor region compared to the rest of the state. From 1990 to 2005 the lung cancer mortality rates in the Grays Harbor region increased by 53 percent over the course of 16 years. But in the rest of the state the rates had been falling by 1.2 percent per year since 1993, equaling a 13 percent decrease over 12 years. The trends were especially pronounced for women in the Grays Harbor area; their rates nearly doubled during the 16 years studied.

Smoking most likely plays the lead role in explaining these findings, especially for lung cancer. The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), an annual phone survey, shows southwest Washington has among the highest rate of smokers in the state, and analyses of birth data show this same general region has significantly high maternal smoking rates.

Smoking appears to be a likely contributor to the clusters and trends seen in heart disease; other data gleaned from BRFSS indicates obesity is another likely contributor. Other factors not accounted for may also help explain these findings; the report cautions that variations in reporting practices by physicians should be considered.

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