Study shows Blacks die earlier than other groups

By Juliana Barbassa

Black men in California are more likely to die in a homicide than men of any other racial or ethnic group, and their average life expectancy — 68.9 years — is the lowest in California, a new poll indicates.
   Despite improving access to health care among all Americans over the past decades, the disparities among racial and ethnic groups in California have not been erased, said Helen Lee, main researcher of a report released by the Public Policy Institute of California.
    At birth, a black man can expect to live 6.9 years less than a white man. The disparity exists among women as well, with black women dying on average at 75, five years earlier than white women, the report said.
    Homicide was the sixth leading killer among black men, and the seventh for Hispanic men. For white men, it was the 14th, and Asians, the 20th.
    The study pools death certificate data from the state’s Department of Health Services and from the 2000 U.S. Census to specify not only the differences in average life spans of various groups but also to analyze which diseases or injuries explain those gaps.
    This understanding can help further the state’s and the nation’s long-term goal of reducing these disparities, as outlined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s “Healthy People 2010” report.
    The contrast between groups is stark, as described in Lee’s “Death in the Golden State” report.
    Asians and Hispanics can on average count on living longer than whites, with Asian women having the longest life spans — an average of 85.2 years.
   “There is this gap in mortality that we consistently see,” said Lee. “But to understand why we have to look at what they’re dying of.”
    Some trends hold true for all groups, such as the leading causes of death and the longer life spans of those with higher education, the study found. There are some illnesses that account for most deaths across ethnicity and gender: heart disease, cancers and strokes.
    Another similarity the survey found across racial groups is the improvement made in life expectancy by education. Those with less than a high school degree had twice the age-adjusted death rates of those with a high school degree or more, Lee said.
    Hispanic men, who report the highest binge drinking rates in the state, had liver disease and cirrhosis as the fifth leading cause of death, although those ranked much lower for other ethnic groups.
    HIV infection was also among the top ten killers for black and Hispanic men but not for women or other groups.
    Among black and Hispanic women, who have the highest obesity rates among the groups, diabetes was the fourth leading cause of death, although it’s a disease that can be managed with adequate health care and regular access, researchers said.