Actual causes of death in Alaska

Figures & data

Figure 1. Actual causes of death in Alaska, 2011-2015 (All Alaskans)

Figure 2. Actual causes of death in Alaska, 2011-2015 (Alaska Native, All Alaskans, White)

Table 1. Leading causes of death in Alaska, 2011–2015: n (%) of Deaths.

Cause of death	Alaska native	White	Total
Malignant neoplasms	931 (20)	3,492 (25)	4,801 (24)
Diseases of the heart	765 (16)	2,715 (19)	3,760 (19)
Unintentional injuries	585 (13)	1,166 (8)	1,866 (9)
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	229 (5)	693 (5)	975 (5)
Cerebrovascular diseases	180 (4)	617 (4)	879 (4)
Intentional self-harm (suicide)	259 (6)	524 (4)	848 (4)
Diabetes mellitus	94 (2)	386 (3)	577 (3)
Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis	143 (3)	305 (2)	466 (2)
Alzheimer’s disease	45 (1)	318 (2)	380 (2)
Influenza and pneumonia	92 (2)	173 (1)	285 (1)
Other	1,342 (29)	3,567 (26)	5,405 (27)
Total	4,665 (100)	13,956 (100)	20,242 (100)

Table 2. Actual causes of death in Alaska, 2011–2015.

Cause of death	Alaska native		White		All Alaskans
	N	%	N	%	N	%
Overweight/obesity	1210	25.9%	2546	18.2%	4074	20.1%
Smoking	851	18.3%	2524	18.1%	3553	17.6%
Alcohol consumption^a	615	13.2%	1033	7.4%	1761	8.7%
Firearms^a	190	4.1%	465	3.3%	722	3.6%
Drug use	131	2.8%	526	3.8%	695	3.4%
Microbial agents	181	3.9%	326	2.3%	547	2.7%
Motor vehicles^a	111	2.4%	254	1.8%	398	2.0%
Sexually transmitted diseases	19	0.4%	37	0.3%	69	0.3%
Environmental pollution	37	0.8%	207	1.5%	252	1.2%
Indoor air quality	26		70		93
Ultraviolet radiation	*		70		76
Outdoor air pollution	7		45		57
Occupational hazards	*		22		26
Total Modifiable Causes of Death (subtracting nutritional deficiencies, duplicates, and environmental pollution	3229	69.2%	7520	53.9%	11,766	58.1%

*Number suppressed as it is less than 5.

^aThis total subtracts deaths that are double-counted, including 117 total deaths, 31 Alaska Native deaths, and 76 white deaths due to alcohol-related vehicle crashes counted in both “alcohol consumption” and “motor vehicles”, and 186 total, 116 Alaska Native, and 49 white firearm-related deaths counted in both “alcohol consumption” and “firearms”. While they have been removed from the total, we have left these figures in each category to emphasise their contribution to mortality.