Citation

Unwin CE, Gracey MS, Thomson NJ. Med. J. Aust. 1995; 162(9): 475-478.

Affiliation

State Health Purchasing Authority, Health Department of Western Australia, Perth.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Australian Medical Association, Publisher Australasian Medical Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

7746204

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To compare the estimated death rates associated with alcohol and tobacco use for Australian Aboriginals in Western Australia with those for non-Aboriginals. METHOD: Deaths attributable to tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption were estimated for 1989-1991 with the aetiological fractions method, using data from the Health Department of Western Australia's mortality database. RESULTS: Tobacco smoking was responsible for 15.4% of all deaths and 13.9% of Aboriginal deaths, and alcohol consumption for 5% and 9.2%, respectively. The age-standardised death rates per 100,000 person-years for tobacco and alcohol were: Aboriginal males, 271 and 152; other males, 113 and 29; Aboriginal females, 118 and 56; and other females, 32 and 15. Of those who died as a result of tobacco use, 49% of Aboriginal males and 48% of Aboriginal females died before 55 years of age, compared with 11% and 10%, respectively, in non-Aboriginal males. For alcohol-related deaths, 62% of Aboriginal males and 70% of Aboriginal females died before 55 years of age, compared with 35% and 23%, respectively, in non-Aboriginals. CONCLUSION: During 1989-1991 tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption were responsible for much higher death rates among Aboriginals than among non-Aboriginals in Western Australia.

Language: en