Mortality Up for Non-Hispanic American Indians/Alaska Natives

TUESDAY, Nov. 9, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Non-Hispanic American Indians or Alaska Native (AIAN) persons have increased mortality compared with non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic populations, according to the Nov. 9 National Vital Statistics Reports, a publication from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Elizabeth Arias, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues presented a mortality profile of the U.S. non-Hispanic AIAN population for 2019, compared with non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic populations.

The researchers found that compared with non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic populations in the United States, the non-Hispanic AIAN population experienced considerably higher mortality after adjustment for misclassification. Greater all-cause mortality was seen for non-Hispanic AIAN persons, and they had higher age-specific deaths rates at most ages, and especially at younger ages. In addition, mortality was higher for most of the top leading causes of death. Life expectancy at birth was also lowest for the non-Hispanic AIAN population compared with non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic populations (71.8 versus 78.8, 74.8, and 81.9, respectively).

Non-Hispanic AIAN persons “experience mortality from chronic liver disease, suicide, and unintentional injuries that is considerably greater than that experienced by the other race and Hispanic-origin populations,” the authors write.

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