‘Despair’-related deaths of Blacks, Native Americans overtake those of whites – Orange County Register

Death rates for middle-aged Black people caused by so-called “deaths of despair” — suicide, drug overdose and alcoholic liver disease — surpassed the rate for whites in 2022, but Native Americans have recorded more than double the death rate of blacks and whites. for the same causes, according to a UCLA Health investigation published Wednesday.

The research findings, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, are the latest results published by UCLA Health to counter a nearly decade-old narrative that deaths of despair have primarily affected white people in America, according to the researchers.

Study co-author Dr. Joseph Friedman of the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine said the current findings highlight sharply increasing premature mortality rates linked to mental health problems and substance use disorders, accompanied by significant racial and ethnic inequalities.

“The findings reinforce the idea that we need to invest in services that can address these issues and, ultimately, we need much more comprehensive access to low-barrier mental health care and substance abuse treatment for United States,” Friedman said in a statement. “And we need to specifically ensure that these treatments, services and programs are implemented in a way that is accessible to communities of color and that they will actively work to address inequities.”

The Deaths of Despair theory gained prominence following a 2015 study analyzing the increase in midlife mortality and decrease in life expectancy in the United States between 1999 and 2013. The study became a center of controversy after it was found that white people had the highest mortality rates from these causes at the time. 72.15 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013, twice that of blacks.

According to UCLA Health, the findings sparked a narrative that rising death rates primarily affected less-educated white people who were experiencing a loss of economic and social status. However, data on Native Americans was not included in the 2015 study or the many follow-up analyzes it triggered.

A 2023 study by UCLA Health determined that Native Americans experienced a significantly higher mid-life mortality rate due to deaths of despair than whites for all years of available data – 1999-2021. In the new data analysis, UCLA Health researchers used publicly available records from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine rates of deaths of despair through 2022 for older whites, blacks and Native Americans from 45 to 54 years old.

The analysis revealed:

— The rate of deaths of despair among Black people (103.81 per 100,000 people) exceeded that of white people (102.63 per 100,000) in 2022

— The rate among blacks tripled between 2013 and 2022, from 36.24 per 100,000 to 103.81 per 100,000 people, with 2015 marking a sharp increase in deaths.

— The rate for American Indian and Alaska Native populations was highest at 241.7 per 100,000 people in 2022.

— The rate of deaths of despair among American Indian and Alaska Native populations remained significantly higher than that of whites from 1999 to 2022.

— American Indians/Alaska Natives had the highest mortality rates from suicide, alcoholic liver disease, and drug overdose compared to blacks and whites.

— Deaths from despair among white people increased from 72.15 per 100,000 people in 2013 to 102.63 per 100,000 people in 2022.