American Indian Health Disparities In New Mexico

American Indians in New Mexico bear a disproportionate share of poor health status and disease. Of the 20 indicators in the 2009 Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Report Card, American Indians have the highest (worst) rates on 7 indicators. Consequently, the Department has published for two years a special edition of the report card that focuses on American Indian health in the hope that public and private partners will join us in identifying the factors that contribute to the disproportionate burden of disease experienced by American Indians in New Mexico and help us to identify successful strategies to reduce this burden.

Included in the 2009 American Indian Health Disparities Report Card are the 7 indicators on which American Indians have the worst (highest) rates and the 2 indicators for which they have the lowest (best) rates in New Mexico.

The Indicators for which American Indians have the highest (worst) rates include indicators relating to getting a healthy start in life, practicing healthy behaviors and avoiding violence. Indicators for which the rates for American Indians are two or more times higher than the rates of the group with the best rates are indicated by an asterisk (*):

• Deaths related to alcohol*
• Deaths due to diabetes*
• Late or no prenatal care*
• Motor vehicle deaths*
• Youth obesity*
• Youth suicide*
• Pneumonia and influenza deaths

*Rates for American Indians are at least double that of the group with the best rate.

The Indicators for which American Indians have the lowest (best) rates related to chronic conditions and risky behaviors:

• Receiving recommended services for individuals with diabetes
• Drug induced deaths

The American Indian Report Card contains the 9 indicators listed above. Each indictor will have the 5 major population groups in New Mexico listed, a grade for how effective the health system is in eliminating the disparity, the rate for each group, and a disparity ratio indicating how each population group compares to the group with the best rate (the reference group). Additionally, accompanying each table is a graph depicting the trends by population group and the trend lines for New Mexico and the United States. Following the table and graph are some bullet points describing the ranking of American Indians on the indicators.