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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
APHA 2005
 
3138.1: Monday, December 12, 2005 - Board 4

Abstract #107404

Suicide surveillance among California Native Americans; A benchmark approach

Janae Lane Price, MPH, Department of Public Health, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), 1050 Wishard Blvd. RG 4100, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3443, (317) 278-0337, jdlhoops@aol.com, Gregory K. Steele, DrPH, MPH, Department of Public Health, Indiana University School of Medicine, 1050 Wishard Blvd. RG 4165, Indianapolis, IN 46202, and David Sprenger, MD, California Area Office, Indian Health Service (IHS), 650 Capitol Mall Suite 7-100, Sacramento, CA 95814.

Suicide rates remain disparate among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations and represent the second-leading cause of death for ages 15-34. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2002 suicide fatalities were incurred at a rate of 74.4 per 100,000 among AI/AN's compared to 10.95 among U.S., all races. These disparities necessitate constant monitoring of the dynamics involved in age, gender, mechanism of injury, geographic location, and the success or failure of a suicide attempt for this population. Currently, suicide surveillance among California AI/AN's is nonexistent. This study uses primary data, 1991 to 2002, from the California Epidemiology and Prevention for Injury Control (EPICenter) in an attempt to further specify the demographics of these injuries. Both fatal and nonfatal data was examined to integrate all possible outcomes of attempted suicide. As demonstrated within other race/ethnicity comparisons, AI/AN males had higher rates of fatal suicides by means of firearm while their female counterparts suffered greater hospitalizations by means of poisoning. The initiation of a surveillance system for the California AI/AN population will provide a benchmark for future assessments of Tribal Health prevention and education programs and will assist in the identification of individuals who are at higher risk of suicide injuries.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: American Indians, Suicide

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Best Practices: American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA