A CDC study found “a striking gap in health between rural and urban Americans,” says the agency’s director Tom Frieden. Rural Americans are more likely than city-dwellers to die from the five leading causes of death – heart disease, cancer, accidental injury, chronic lower respiratory disease and stroke – which account for more than 60 percent of deaths, according to the study published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report.
Deaths from unintentional injury were 50 percent higher in rural areas, due partly to higher risk of fatal automobile accidents and opioid overdoses, said the CDC.
Rural Americans tend to be older, poorer and sicker than urban residents. They also have higher rates of cigarette smoking, high blood pressure and obesity along with less access to health care and lower rates of health insurance coverage.
Frieden said health agencies “are working to better understand and address the health threats that put rural Americans at increased risk of early death.” In a release, CDC listed several steps that rural doctors and clinics could take to close the gap. Among them were screening patients for high blood pressure, early detection of cancer and promoting better diets and healthy behavior. “Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States and is the most significant risk factor for chronic lower respiratory disease,” said the CDC.