COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS OF VIOLENT DEATHS IN AMERICAN-INDIANS AND ALASKA NATIVES

Accidents, injuries, and outcomes from adverse effects have been identified as the second leading cause of death for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN). However, no studies have been done which analyze violent deaths (homicides, suicides, and other accidents) for this population with a focus on time trends. For this study, overall and gender-specific mortality rates due to violent deaths were computed for 1973-88. The results indicate that overall and gender-specific mortality rates for violent deaths in AI/AN have been decreasing on average per year: homicide, 4.3%; suicide, 2.7%; other accidents, 5.6%. Similarly, age-adjusted rates have been declining, and at faster rates than those of the U.S. general population: homicide, 4.5% vs. 1.4%; suicide, 2.5% vs. 0.6%; other accidents, 6.2% vs. 2.6%. However, the male-female ratio for homicides and other accidents has remained unchanged, and the ratio for suicide has been increasing. While the gap between age-adjusted rates have been narrowing, the age-adjusted rates for AI/AN have remained consistently above those of the U.S. general population.