Office of Minority Health

Minority Health Facts:
Native Americans
in Rhode Island

Introduction	Infectious Diseases
Population Demographics	Maternal and Child Health
Socio-Economic Characteristics	Access to Care
Mortality	For More Information
Behavioral Risks

Introduction

This report provides information about the major indicators of health for the Native American/American Indian (Native American/American Indian as defined by OMB Directive is a person having origins in any of the original people of North America, and who maintains cultural affiliation through tribal affiliation or community recognition) population in the state, hereafter referred to as Rhode Island’s "Native American" population. Data concerning socio-economic characteristics, morbidity and mortality, behavioral risks, infectious diseases, maternal and child health and access to care are presented in comparison to the state population as a whole. Please note that race and ethnic status for major Health Department data sets are based on self-identification.

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Population Demographics

According to 1996 population estimates from the Bureau of the Census, there were 4,683 Native Americans living in Rhode Island. This population consistsed primarily of members of the Narragansett Indian Tribe, but there are also many urban Native Americans who originate from other tribes throughout the United States. According to 1990 census data, the median age of the Native American population was 27.9 years of age. Census data also indicates that a large percentage of the urban Native American population lives in the city of Providence.

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Socio-economic Characteristics

The following are socio-economic characteristics, as of the 1990 Census, which may affect the health of the Native American population living in Rhode Island.

Table A: Socio-economic Data

• The poverty rate among Native Americans living in Rhode Island was 2.6 times the rate for all of the state’s residents.
• The unemployment rate was also nearly twice as high in the Native American population as it was for all state residents.
• The median family income for Native Americans living in Rhode Island in 1990 was only 65% of the median family income for all families living in Rhode Island.
• Native Americans ages 25 and older were less likely to have graduated from high school than the general population of the state.

	Native American	State
Percentage of population living below poverty	17.7%	6.8%
Percentage of population that is unemployed	14.1%	7.5%
Median family income	$25,367	$39,172
Percent of population ages 25 and older with high school diploma	64.5%	72.0%

Source: 1990 Census

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Mortality

Table B: Leading Causes of Death 1991-93

#	Native American	State
1	cancer	heart disease
2	heart disease	cancer
3	unintentional injuries	stroke
4	AIDS	emphysema and other chronic lung diseases
5	stroke	pneumonia and influenza

Source: Rhode Island Vital Statistics Mortality Data

• For the period 1991-1993 the five leading causes of death for Native Americans living in the state were cancer, heart disease, unintentional injuries, AIDS and stroke; while the five leading causes of death for the state’s population as a whole were heart disease, cancer, stroke, emphysema and other chronic lung diseases, and pneumonia and influenza.

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Behavioral Risks

Table C: Indicators of Behavioral Risk Factors

	Native American	State
Percent of population that smokes, ages 18 and over (1996)**	53.2	22.4
Percent of population that is overweight (1) Or obese (2), ages 18 and over (1996)**	+	33.0 (1)
	+	9.0 (2)
Percent of population exercising more than 20 minutes ,3 or more times a week, ages 18 and over (1996)**	36.5	45.0
Percent of population with no leisure time physical activity, ages 18 and over (1996)**	24.3	26.7
Percent of population that consumes 5 or more fruits and vegetables per day, ages 18 and over.**	+	24.0
Percent of population ages 4 and over, that always uses a safety belt or child safety restraint*	77.0	76.0
Percent of population that had one or more drinks in the past two weeks, ages 18 and over*	25.0	45.0
Percent of 10th graders who drank alcoholic beverages in the past month***	53.0	58.0
Percent of 10th graders who used marijuana in the past month***	32.0	27.0

Source: * RI Health Interview Survey, 1996
** RI Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance system, 1996
***Adolescent Substance Abuse survey, 1995

Notes: 1) New criteria established by CDC: (1)overweight=BMI>25.0 and <30; (2)obese= BMI>30

2) + = too small for meaningful analysis

• The rate of smoking among Native Americans was more than double the rate of smoking for all Rhode Islanders.
• Native Americans were less likely to exercise 3 or more times per week than were all Rhode Islanders.
• Fewer Native Americans ages 18 and over had no leisure time physical activity.
• Native American 10th graders were less likely to drink alcoholic beverages and more likely to use marijuana in the past month than all 10th graders in the state.
• Native Americans ages 18 and over were less likely to have one or more drinks in the past week than were all Rhode Islanders ages 18 and over.

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Infectious Diseases

• From 1991-1996 the incidence of AIDS was 3 times higher in the Native American population than it was for the population as a whole.
• The incidence of Hepatitis B was also elevated among Native Americans.

Table D: Rates of Infectious Disease

	Native American	State
Cases per 100,000 of AIDS (1991-96)	330.7	111
Cases per 100,000 of gonorrhea (1997)	27.9	42.3
Cases per 100,000 of hepatitis B (1994-96)	8.2	3.0
Cases per 100,000 of tuberculosis (1996)	0	3.5

Source: Infectious Disease Database

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Maternal and Child Health

Table E: Indicators of Maternal and Child Health

• Nearly one in ten Native American infants were low birth weight babies.
• Over twice as many Native American mothers delivered babies without early prenatal care in the period 1991-1995 than the state average.
• The infant mortality rate among Native Americans was 2.4 times the rate of infant mortality reported for the state as a whole.

	Native American	State
Percentage of pregnancies among women that resulted in live births (1991-95)	76.3	69.2
Percentage of infants with birthweights<2500 grams (1991-95)	9.5	6.3
Percentage of mothers who received no prenatal care or no prenatal care in the first trimester (1991-95)	22.5	10.3
Percentage of babies born in poverty (1991-95)	23.2	26.0
Live births per 1000 women ages 15-44 (1991-95)	133.2	57.5
Infant mortality per 1000 births (1992-95)	17.1	7.3
Births per 1,000 teens aged 14-18 (1991-95)	136.1	30.3

Source: Maternal and Child Health Database

• The rate of live births in the Native American population was over twice as high as the rate of live births for the state's population as a whole.
• Native American teenagers ages 14-18 were four times more likely to give birth than teenagers as a whole living in state of RI. The rate of teen pregnancy among Native Americans in the state was higher than it was for all other racial and ethnic minority groups in the state in the period 1991-1995.

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Access to Care

Table F: Indicators of Access to Care

	Native American	State
Percentage of population reporting usual source of care as none or emergency room (1996) **	10.0	9.8
Percentage of hospitalizations without health insurance (1995) ***	+	4.2
Percentage of population that reports having no health insurance (1996)**	17.0	10.0
Percentage of children ages 0-18 months screened for lead poisoning (1994-1996)****	+	59.0
Percentage of women 40+ screened for breast cancer in past 2 years (1996)*	+	75.8
Percentage of women 18+ screened for cervical cancer in past 2 years (1996)*	+	78.2

Source: * Behavioral Risk Factor Survey
** RI Health Interview Survey, 1996
*** RI Hospital Discharge Data
****RIDOH Office of Environmental Health Risk Assessment
Notes: +Sample size is too small for meaningful analysis

• The percentage of Native Americans who reported their usual source of care as "none" or the "emergency room" was virtually identical to the percentage of people in the general state population reporting their usual source of care as "none" or the "emergency room".
• Nearly 17% of Native Americans reported not having health insurance, while only 10% of the state’s population as a whole reported being uninsured.
• Only 11 children in the 1994 birth cohort were recorded as Native American. Of these 9, or nearly 82%, were screened for lead poisoning by 18 months of age.

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For more information regarding minority health and the statistics contained in this report, please contact:

Topic	Contact	Telephone
Minority Health	Office of Minority Health	401-222-2901
Natality and Mortality Data	Office of Vital Records	401-222-2812
Behavioral Risk Factors and Access to Care Data	Office of Health Statistics	401-222-5122
Infectious Diseases	Office of Communicable Disease	401-222-2577
Indicators of Maternal and Child Health	Data and Evaluation Unit, Division of Family Health	401-222-2312
Lead Poisoning Prevention	Office of Environmental Health Risk Assessment	401-222-3424

Minority Health Fact Sheets Prepared by:

The Office of Minority Health Staff:
Pheamo R. Witcher
Minority Health Coordinator
Maria Robitaille
Administrative Assistant
Diane M. Collins*
Administrative Assistant
Gregory Krause*
Minority Health Intern

*No longer with the Office of Minority Health

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