auses of Death Among American Indians and Alaska Natives

CDC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control sponsored a supplemental issue of the American Journal of Public Health about the leading causes of death among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations. The authors are experts from many different fields.

Death records and cancer incidence records were linked with Indian Health Service registration data to identify AI/AN people correctly, as they are often incorrectly reported as being members of other racial groups. Previous studies show that nearly 30% of people who identify themselves as AI/AN when living are classified as another race at the time of death. This linkage resulted in the most reliable data to date on causes of death among AI/AN people.

This linkage and analysis highlight several key findings. Overall, death rates are 50% higher among AI/AN people than non-Hispanic white people. Death rates have declined among non-Hispanic white people, but not among AI/AN people. Their death rates are higher for some preventable causes of death, especially cancer, suicide, diabetes, viral hepatitis, and alcohol-related deaths.

Articles in Supplement

A systematic review of community interventions to improve Aboriginal child passenger safety.
Perspectives on mortality data from the Indian Health Service.
Addressing disparities in the health of American Indian and Alaskan Native people: The importance of improved public health data.
Linkages to improve mortality data for American Indians and Alaskan Natives: A new model for death reporting?
American Indian health policy: historical trends and contemporary issues.
Adapting to the effects of climate change on Inuit health.
Historical trends and regional differences in AI/AN all-cause and amenable mortality since 1950.
Community-based surveillance and case management for suicide prevention: an American Indian tribally initiated system.
The public health foundation of health services for American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Methods for improving the quality and completeness of mortality data for American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Racial misclassification of American Indians and Alaska Natives by Indian Health Service Contract Health Service Delivery Area.
Leading causes of death and all-cause mortality in American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Period life tables for the non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native population in CHSDA counties, 2007–2009.
American Indian and Alaska Native infant and pediatric mortality, United States, 1999–2009.
Suicide among young Alaska Native men: Community risk factors and alcohol control.
Suicide mortality among American Indians and Alaska Natives, 1999–2009.
The alcohol-attributable death rate disparity between American Indians and Alaska Natives and non-Hispanic whites in the United States, 1999–2009.
Mortality due to chronic liver disease among American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States, 1999–2009.
All-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality in Western Alaska Native people: Western Alaska Tribal Collaborative for Health (WATCH).
Trends and disparities in heart disease mortality among American Indians/Alaska Natives, 1990–2009.
Trends and disparities in stroke mortality by region for American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Disparities in cancer mortality and incidence among American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States.
Lung cancer deaths among American Indians and Alaska Natives, 1999–2009.
Kidney cancer incidence and mortality among American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States, 1990–2009.
Geographic variation in colorectal cancer incidence and mortality, age of onset, and stage at diagnosis among American Indian and Alaska Native people, 1990–2009.
Cervical cancer incidence and mortality among American Indian and Alaska Native women, 1999–2009.
Ovarian and uterine cancer incidence and mortality in non-Hispanic American Indians and Alaska Native women, United States, 1999–2009.
Breast cancer mortality among American Indians/Alaskan Natives, 1990–2009.
Prostate cancer deaths and incident cases among American Indian/Alaska Native men, 1999–2009.
Infectious disease mortality among American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Death rates from HIV and TB among American Indians/Alaska Natives in the United States, 1990–2009.
Pneumonia and influenza mortality among American Indian and Alaska Native people, 1990–2009.
Effectiveness of Circle of Life, an HIV-preventive intervention for American Indian middle school youth: a group-randomized trial in a Northern Plains tribe.
Unintentional injury mortality among American Indians and Alaska Natives in the U.S, 1990–2009.
Health behaviors and risk factors among American Indians and Alaska Natives, 2000–2010.
Survival on dialysis among American Indians and Alaska Natives with diabetes in the United States, 1995–2010.
Diabetes-related mortality among American Indians and Alaska Natives, 1990–2009.
Indigenous mortality (revealed): the invisible illuminated.
Promoting ethical research with American Indian and Alaska Native people living in urban areas.