Differential alcohol-related mortality among American Indian tribes in Oklahoma, 1968-1978.
Tribal differences in alcohol-related mortality were examined among 11 Indian tribes living in Oklahoma. Data on alcohol-related deaths from 1968 to 1978 were compiled and assigned to various tribes on the basis of population distributions by county. Results showed significant differences in alcohol-related mortality among the various tribes. Of the 267,238 total deaths in Oklahoma during the study period, 9.3% of Indian deaths were alcohol-related while only 3.2% of those among blacks and 2.4% of those among whites were classified as such. Indian males and females are far more likely to die of alcohol-related deaths than their black and white counterparts. Cheyenne-Arapaho, Comanche and Kiowa areas (located in the western++ part of the state) have higher alcohol-related deaths than Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole and Pawnee areas (located in eastern Oklahoma). Indian residents of the Seminole area have the lowest percentage of deaths identified as alcohol-related. The patterns which emerge may be due to different cultural and historical factors among the Indian tribes.
Department of Geography, College Park, MD 20742.
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Christian
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Dufour
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Bertolucci
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009825:Oklahoma; D012737:Sex Factors