A new study finds that American Indians and Alaska Natives have hospitalized COVID-19 death rates two to three times higher than all other races, and some of the highest rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. overall.

According to JAMA Network Open, American Indian and Alaska Native patients were more likely to die from COVID-19 than black or white patients across comorbidities, despite proportionally lower comorbidity risk scores compared with black and white patients. higher risk level Report Wednesday.

Native American communities lack Indigenous representation in population data in public health records and barriers to access to appropriate care during the pandemic, the study said.

The report looked at 18,731 adults hospitalized with COVID-19 in Mississippi between March 2020 and December 2020, using discharge data from the Mississippi Inpatient Outpatient Data System. About 1.2 percent of the people in the study were American Indians and Alaska Natives, 49.1 percent were black, and 48.7 percent were white.

Black and white patients in the comorbidity risk group had 75% and 77% lower in-hospital mortality rates, respectively, than American Indian and Alaska Native patients.

Among individuals with the most comorbidities, nearly 7 in 10 American Indian and Alaska Native patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 died before discharge, compared to only 1 in 10 black or white patients Fewer than three died before being discharged from the hospital.

One in 10 American Indian and Alaska Native adults with the lowest risk of comorbidities died from COVID-19 during hospitalization, compared with 1 in 25 black or white adults or fewer.

By the end of 2021, Native American individuals in the United States were reported to have experienced 296,967 COVID-19 infections and 8,983 deaths. American Indians and Alaska Natives were 1.6 times more likely to be infected, 3.3 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 2.2 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than whites.

Research shows that about 40 percent of eligible American Indians and Alaska Natives’ health care needs are not covered by the government, and a lack of nearby health care is more likely to be the cause of hospital mortality. Comorbidities.

In general, Native Americans have lower life expectancy, and die at a higher rate than other racial groups due to a variety of conditions including chronic liver disease, diabetes, mental illness and chronic lower respiratory disease.

All communities in the Choctaw Indian Belt of Mississippi are designated by the federal government as underserved areas, especially because the reservation’s 20-bed Choctaw Health Center is the only one in the state that is associated with Indian Health Services. related hospitals.

Mississippi’s primary and secondary COVID-19 centers are dozens of miles from the Choctaw Reservation, and Indigenous individuals seeking non-IHS facilities often have to go through a complex and lengthy purchase or referral medical reimbursement process.Often, these costs end up being overwhelmed by chronic illnesses insufficient funds.