Urban Indian Health Institute

On November 1st, 2007, the Urban Indian Health Commission released their ground breaking report titled: Invisible Tribes: Urban Indians and Their Health in a Changing World. The kick off celebration was held at the National Press Club and was very well attended. To learn more about the Commission or to down load a copy of the report, please visit: www.uihi.net/uihc.

Report: 2007 Urban Indian Diabetes Report on 2000 - 2005 Diabetes Audit Data

This report summarizes urban Indian diabetes audit data that was reported to the Special Diabetes for Indians Program through the Indian Health Service Diabetes audit for the years 2000 - 2005. The report includes background inforamtion on the Special Diabetes Program for Indians, the methods used to collect and analyze the data, as well as the results and the limitations of the data itself.

For more information on the report findings, process, and next steps, please contact: MaileTaualii , (206) 812-3036

UIHI staff recently conducted in-depth analysis of data on urban American Indian/Alaska Native youth. This particular study focused on youth risk behaviors, analyzing national data sources to identify characteristics of urban American Indian/Alaska Native youth and to examine disparities in health risk behaviors.

Four national data sources were analyzed: 1) Mortality or U.S. death certificate data for1999-2001; 2) Natality or U.S. birth certificate data for 2000-2002; 3) 2000 U.S. Census data; and 4) Data from the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) for the years 1997- 2003 (Total sample=59, 839).

Study findings indicate a need for interventions to address health status and risk behaviors among urban American Indian/Alaska Native youth. The high prevalence of risk behaviors in urban American Indian/Alaska Native represents a significant disparity compared to youth in the white population. Urban American Indian/Alaska Native students were significantly more likely than urban white students to engage in behaviors resulting in unintentional injuries and violence, drug use and risky sexual behavior. Higher rates of death, poverty, school non-enrollment and teen births were also seen in American Indian/Alaska Native compared to white youth.

More resources need to be focused on American Indian/Alaska Native health if these gaps in health status and risk are to be reduced or eliminated. The high prevalence of many of the risk factors examined implies that health promotion and disease prevention activities have the potential to make a significant impact on risk reduction for urban American Indian/Alaska Native youth. Data to continue monitoring trends in risk behavior is crucial in efforts to obtain funding to support intervention programs and other action steps.