Heart Disease and American Indians/Alaska Natives

  • In 2018, American Indians/Alaska Natives were 50 percent more likely to be diagnosed with coronary heart disease than their white counterparts.
  • American Indian/Alaska Natives were 50 percent more likely to be current cigarette smokers, as compared to non-Hispanic whites, in 2018.
  • American Indian/Alaska Native adults were 10 percent more likely than white adults to have high blood pressure, as compared to non-Hispanic whites, in 2018.
  • American Indians/Alaska Native adults are more likely to be obese than white adults, more likely to have high blood pressure, and they are more likely to be current cigarette smokers than white adults - all risk factors for heart disease.

Diagnosed Cases of Coronary Heart Disease:

Age-adjusted percentage of coronary heart disease among persons 18 years of age and over, 2018
American Indian/Alaska Native Non-Hispanic WhiteAmerican Indian/Alaska Native/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
8.65.81.5

Source: CDC 2021. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table A-1a.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm

Death Rate:

Age-adjusted heart disease death rates per 100,000 (2018)
Non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native Non-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men178.6213.10.8
Women115.0130.70.9
Total144.6168.10.9

Source: CDC 2021. National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 69, No. 13. Table 10.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr69/nvsr69-13-508.pdf [PDF | 2.05MB]

Risk Factors:

There are several risk factors related to heart disease. Some of these risk factors are:

Obesity and Overweight

– See Obesity and American Indians/Alaska Natives

Hypertension

Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who have high blood pressure, 2018
American Indian/Alaska Native Non-Hispanic WhiteAmerican Indian/Alaska Native / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
27.224.01.1

Source: CDC 2021. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table A-1a.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm
Percentage of adults age 18 and over with hypertension whose blood pressure is under control.
Data not available at this time.

High Cholesterol

Age-adjusted percentage of adults told by a health-care provider that they had high blood cholesterol, 2009
American Indian/Alaska NativesNon-Hispanic WhiteAmerican Indian/Alaska Native / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
34.034.81.0

Source: CDC 2012. Prevalence of Cholesterol Screening and High Blood Cholesterol Among Adults — United States, 2005, 2007, and 2009. MMWR 61(35): 697-700, Table 2.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/wk/mm6135.pdf [PDF | 697.04KB]

Percentage of adults who received a blood cholesterol measurement in the last 5 years, 2017
American Indian/Alaska Native Non-Hispanic WhiteAmerican Indian/Alaska Native / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
85.487.31.0

Source: AHRQ 2021. National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query. Table 7 _5_ 1_ 4_2.1.
http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query

Cigarette Smoking

Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who are current cigarette smokers, 2018
American Indian/Alaska Native Non-Hispanic WhiteAmerican Indian/Alaska Native / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
22.515.51.5

Source: CDC 2021. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table A-12a.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm

Current cigarette smoking among adults aged 18 and over, 2015-2017
American Indian/Alaska Native Non-Hispanic WhiteAmerican Indian/Alaska Native / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men18.517.81.0
Women19.216.01.2

Source: CDC 2019. Health United States, 2018. Table 19.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus18.pdf [PDF | 1.56MB]

Percentage of current smokers age 18 and over with a checkup who reported receiving advice to quit smoking, 2017
American Indian/Alaska Native Non-Hispanic White American Indian/Alaska Native / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
--77.0--

Source: AHRQ 2021. National Healthcare Quality Report. Table 7_2_1_1_1_.1.
http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query

Percentage of current smokers age 18 and over with a checkup who reported receiving advice to quit smoking, 2015
Non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska NativeNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
38.160.20.6

Source: CDC 2017. Quitting Smoking Among Adults — United States, 2000–2015. Table 2.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/pdfs/mm6552a1.pdf [PDF | 194K]