Deaths listed as “deaths of despair” are on the rise amongst Black adults in the U.S., according to a new study.
Published in the scientific journal JAMA Psychiatry, researchers found that the rate of “deaths of despair,” identified as deaths resulting from drug addiction, suicide and alcoholism, amongst Black adults has now overtaken that of white adults.
To conduct the study, they traced the information of people from the ages of 45 and 54 who passed away from 1999 to 2022.
Whereas the rate was higher amongst white adults in 2013 at nearly double the rate of Black adults, by the end of 2022, the number of middle-aged Black adults who died from deaths of despair almost tripled to 103.81 deaths per every 100,000 people. In comparison, approximately 102.63 white adults out of every 100,000 passed away from these issues.
Although there was a mass increase in the rate overall, researchers specified in their report that there was a significant increase in drug overdose deaths in particular.
“Racial inequalities in the deaths of despair now resemble disparities seen for [many] causes of death in the US,” said co-author Joseph Friedman, per US News. “This reflects inequalities in the underlying social and economic factors that determine health, as well as access to mental health and addiction treatment services.”
Trends in Deaths of Despair by Race and Ethnicity From 1999 to 2022https://t.co/0BJF9T12TM
— CDUHR (@CDUHR_NYC) April 11, 2024
In their report, the researchers emphasized that COVID-19 played a prominent role in increasing the rates of deaths of despair.
Previous reports have found that Black Americans were disproportionately burdened by the pandemic.
Per the National Institute of Health, approximately 97.9 out of every 100,000 Black adults died because of COVID-19- a rate that was double that of white adults. The higher rates of death remained the same amidst the Omicron surge.
Per a report by KFF, approximately 37.4 out of every 100,000 Black adults in the U.S. passed away as of January 2022, compared to 23.5 out of every 100,000 white adults.
A variety of factors contributed to these higher rates, including disparities in health care. Black adults are amongst those with the least access to proper health care. Per KFF, Black adults are 1.5 times more likely not to have any health care than white adults, making up 10% of uninsured Americans.
“The pandemic sharply exacerbated trends that were already worsening. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the deaths of despair increased sharply for all groups, with the biggest increases for Native and Black Americans,” said Friedman. “This likely reflects worsening mental health, increasing economic precarity and a sharply escalating overdose crisis during this time.”
