Objectives: This study sought to describe trends in hospitalizations associated with infectious diseases among American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Methods: Infectious disease hospitalizations and rates among American Indians and Alaska Natives from 1980 through 1994 were examined via Indian Health Service hospital discharge data and compared with published trends for the general US population.
Results: Annual hospitalization rates for infectious diseases among American Indians and Alaska Natives decreased by 31.0% between 1980 and 1994. Infectious disease hospitalizations accounted for 16.3% of all hospitalizations in 1980 and 21.2% in 1994, an increase of 30.1%. In 1994, the age-adjusted infectious disease hospitalization rate for American Indians and Alaska Natives was 1863 per 100,000 population, approximately 21% greater than that for the general US population.
Conclusions: Hospitalization trends for infectious diseases show that there has been improvement in the health status of American Indians and Alaska Natives but also indicate that this population has a higher infectious disease burden than the general US population.