Mortality rates of middle-aged Blacks caused by so-called “deaths of despair” — suicide, drug overdose and alcoholic liver disease — surpassed the rate of whites in 2022, but Native Americans had more than double the rate of both Black and white deaths from the same causes, according to a UCLA Health survey released Wednesday.
The results of the research, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, are the latest from UCLA Health to counter a nearly decade-old narrative that deaths of despair have primarily impacted whites in America, according to researchers.
Study co-author Dr. Joseph Friedman of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA said the current results highlight the sharply rising rates of premature mortality related to mental health issues and substance use disorders with large racial and ethnic inequalities.
“The findings reinforce the notion 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 use treatment in the US,” Friedman said in a statement. “And we need to specifically make sure those treatments, services and programs are implemented in a way that is accessible for communities of color and will actively work to address inequality.”
The deaths of despair theory rose to prominence following a 2015 study that analyzed rising midlife mortality and decreasing life expectancy in the United States from 1999 to 2013. The study became a focus of controversy after it found whites had the highest mortality rates from these causes at 72.15 per 100,000 people in 2013, which was two times that of Blacks.
According to UCLA Health, the findings sparked a narrative that the rising death rates were primarily impacting less educated whites who were experiencing a perceived loss of economic and social status. However, data for Native Americans were not included in the 2015 study, or in the many follow-up analyses it triggered.
A 2023 study by UCLA Health determined that Native Americans have had a considerably higher midlife death rate from deaths of despair compared to whites for all available years of 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 white, Black and Native Americans ages 45-54.
The analysis found:
— The rate of deaths of despair among Blacks (103.81 per 100,000 people) surpassed that of whites (102.63 per 100,000) in 2022
— The rate among Blacks tripled from 2013-2022 from 36.24 per 100,000 to 103.81 per 100,000 people, with 2015 onward marking a sharp increase in deaths
— The rate for Native American and Alaska Native populations was the highest at 241.7 per 100,000 people in 2022
— The rate of deaths of despair for Native American/Alaska Native populations has remained significantly higher than whites from 1999 to 2022
— Native American/Alaska Native had the highest mortality rates from suicide, alcoholic liver disease and drug overdose compared to Blacks and whites
— Deaths of despair in whites increased from 72.15 per 100,000 people in 2013 to 102.63 per 100,000 people in 2022
Related Articles
Gov. Newsom, the drug that kills most Americans is on grocery store shelves
Why do so few in Southern California get updated COVID vaccinations?
Coachella festival wants billboard on sexually transmitted diseases removed
New Mission Hospital machine uses sound waves to vaporize liver tumors
Survey reveals stark inequities in health of Black and Latino Angelenos
The data does not identify the circumstances behind these deaths, but Friedman said the increasing rates of deaths of despair largely relate to mental health and substance use disorders. While Blacks have been disproportionately affected by the drug overdose crisis, other factors include differential access to health care and social services, an increasingly toxic illicit drug supply, namely fentanyl, and worsening economic insecurity, UCLA Health researchers determined.
