Black Missourians are more than 11 times as likely as whites to fall victim to homicide, but whites are more likely to die from lung disease or suicide, a study released this week shows.
The study by the Missouri Department of Health compares inconsistencies by race in causes of death. The study also found whites in Missouri live an average of 6.2 years longer than blacks.
The most notable disparity in causes of death was homicide. Fifty out of 100,000 blacks die annually from homicide or related events, while only four in 100,000 whites are victims of homicide each year.
The disparity between black and white death rates was highest in the Bootheel as compared to other regions of the state.
The study also examined infant mortality in regions throughout the state. Widely used as an indicator of general health, the statinfant mortality rate for blacks was highest in the Bootheel. Close behind was the city of St. Louis. The infant mortality rate for whites in the Bootheel was found to be second only to Kansas City's.
Experts say poor economic conditions and unhealthy lifestyles are major reasons for the high mortality rates.
"One of the biggest problems we have here is the lifestyle," said Don Crawford, administrator of the Dunklin County Health Department in Kennett. Other Bootheel counties included in the study were Scott, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot and Stoddard.
Crawford said a lack of prenatal care is just one problem.
"We have a lot of low income folks who are not eating as well as they should when they're pregnant," he said. "And some are using tobacco, alcohol and other drugs."
The Department of Health reported in the study that risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, alcohol intake and diabetes accounts for 31 percent of the disparity in health statistics between whites and blacks.
Family income accounts for 38 percent of the disparity, which is also influenced by discrimination, genetics, and a lack of preventive care the department found.
Low-income families are less likely to buy and cook healthy foods, and less likely to attain adequate health care, Crawford said.
Lack of transportation to health care facilities contributes to the availability of adequate health care, he said.
Jane Duenne, a nurse for 10 years at the Mississippi County Health Department in Charleston, said smoking, alcohol and drugs all contribute to low birth weight, as does the age of the mother.
About half of the pregnant women she sees are 15 to 18 years old. Most are poor and on Medicaid, she said, and have to travel to Sikeston or Cape Girardeau to see an obstetrician because there are none in Charleston.
"There used to be a state nurse practitioner that would visit once a month, but not anymore," Duenne said. "Sometimes transportation to the doctor is the only problem."
A lack of prenatal care is evident in both counties.
"Those who don't have any prenatal care at all are somewhat rare," Crawford said. "But those who have less than they should and therefore become a high risk are pretty common."
The purpose of the study, published in Missouri Monthly Vital Statistics, is to pinpoint the differences in death rates between blacks and whites, in order to increase health care where needed.
Other findings in the study include:
Blacks are twice as likely as whites to die from diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease and hypertension, and suffer more often from stomach ulcers, pneumonia, influenza and heart disease.
Whites are more likely to suffer from lung disease and more likely to commit suicide.
Eighty-one percent of white Missourians live to age 65, while 67.9 percent of blacks reach that age.
Of geographic areas, St. Louis County has the lowest age-adjusted death rate for whites and blacks in the state, while St. Louis city has the highest.
Census figures for 1990 found there are close to 550,000 black Missouri residents, of which 83 percent live in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas.
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