African American Health Issues

Overall Health Status

As is true of health in the United States in general, African American health has improved. In 2004, consistent with the trend for all subgroups, African American life expectancy reached a record high. Life expectancy at birth was 73.1 years compared with 78.3 for whites and 77.8 for all races combined. African American men have a lower life expectancy than men of other racial and ethnic groups and African American women (see Table 1). However, it is important to note that these statistics represent a narrowing of the black-white life expectancy gap.

Continuing the trend toward improved health, between 2003 and 2004 African Americans showed significant decreases in age-adjusted death rate. The relative magnitudes of these decreases were 3.7% for non-Hispanic African American men and 3.4% for women. The age-adjusted death rate for African Americans was higher than that of the general population, with African American men experiencing the highest rate among all racial and gender groups.

On one of the most sensitive indices of health status, infant mortality rate, African Americans have a rate that is approximately twice that of the general population. Maternal death also occurs at higher rates. African American elders also experience higher morbidity and mortality rates compared with the general population. Also, while unintended pregnancy rates in the United States have been declining, low-income African American women continue to have one of the highest rates.

In 2003, the 10 leading causes of death for African Americans were (in order) heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, accidents and unintentional injuries, assault/homicide, kidney disease, respiratory disease, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and septicemia (bacteria in the blood). The top 3 causes of death are similar to those found in the general population, although the mortality rates observed among African Americans are higher. The most significant departures from the general population are deaths due to homicide and HIV. Despite a downward trend, homicide is still the leading cause of death among African American males 15 to 24 years of age. In a change from 2001 and 2002 data, kidney disease accounted for more deaths than HIV.

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