Nearly 12% of American Indian and Alaska Native deaths over a four-year period were alcohol related, according to a CDC report released on Thursday, AP/USA Today reports. Researchers found after examining death certificates from 2001 to 2005 that 11.7% of deaths -- or 1,514 deaths -- among American Indians and Alaska Natives were alcohol-related. During the same time period, 3.3% of all deaths in the U.S. were related to alcohol. The report also found:
Traffic accidents and liver disease are the two leading causes of alcohol-related deaths among American Indians and Alaska Natives;
About one-third of alcohol- related deaths in the American Indian/Alaska Native population occurred in the Northern Plains, where reservations are remote and often destitute;
Alaska had the lowest number of alcohol-related deaths among American Indians/Alaska Natives; and
More than 68% of American Indian/Alaska Native alcohol-related deaths were among men, 66% were among those younger than age 50 and 7% were among those younger than age 20.
The report did not include deaths related to tuberculosis, pneumonia and colon cancer, conditions for which alcohol is thought to be a risk factor, and as a result "[t]here may be many more alcohol-related deaths than the study shows," AP/USA Today, reports. The report recommends "culturally appropriate clinical interventions" to reduce alcohol abuse and improved integration between tribal health care centers and tribal courts, which often handle alcohol-related crimes (Jalonick, AP/USA Today, 8/28).
The report is available online.
Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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