Key Findings: African Americans in Wisconsin *

Social and Demographic Characteristics

• African Americans are the largest racial/ethnic minority group in Wisconsin, and constituted 6.1 percent of the Wisconsin population in 2007. African Americans were estimated to number 344,658 of the 5,641,581 residents of Wisconsin.

• African Americans are a younger population than Wisconsin as a whole, with a median age of 25. A younger median age means larger proportions of children and young adults, and a lower proportion of older adults, than the state as a whole.

• In 2007, the rate of poverty among African Americans in Wisconsin was 48 percent, four times greater than the poverty rate in the total state population (12%).

• Nearly 50 percent of black children in Wisconsin were living in poverty in 2007.
Mother and Infant Health

• In 2005, the low birthweight rate among babies born to African American mothers in Wisconsin was 13.7 percent, nearly twice the rate for all Wisconsin births (7.0%). Low birthweight means a weight of less than 5.5 pounds or 2,500 grams at birth.

• Other risks occurring at higher rates among African American births include the percent of births to teenagers (23%), and the percent of births to women who have not graduated from high school (35%).

• During 2003-2005, the infant mortality rate among African American babies was 16.5 deaths per 1,000 births. This was higher than the total infant mortality rate for Wisconsin during those years (6.4) and higher than the African American infant mortality rate in 1992-1994 (14.5).
Mortality

• Based on age-adjusted total death rates (all causes combined), African Americans have higher rates of death than the total state population after taking differences in population age structure into account.

• During the years 2001-2005, the five leading causes of death among African Americans in Wisconsin were cancer, heart disease, unintentional injury, stroke, and homicide.

• Causes of death with the largest disparities, where the age-adjusted mortality rate among African Americans was at least twice the white rate, were diabetes (2.3 times the white rate) and homicide (14.7 times the white rate).
Chronic Diseases

• In 2001-2005, the age-adjusted mortality rate from heart disease was 252 deaths per 100,000 population among African Americans, higher than the rate in the total Wisconsin population (202). Heart disease hospitalization rates were also higher for African Americans.

• Age-adjusted mortality and hospitalization rates for cancer were higher in the African American population than the total Wisconsin population. The African American cancer mortality rate was 248 deaths per 100,000 population, compared to 184 per 100,000 in Wisconsin as a whole.

• Stroke death and hospitalization rates were higher in the African American population compared to the total state population. In 2001-2005, the age-adjusted mortality rate from stroke was 68 deaths per 100,000 among African Americans, and 53 per 100,000 among all Wisconsin residents.

• Diabetes deaths and hospitalizations also occurred at higher rates in the African American population. The age-adjusted mortality rate from diabetes was 49 deaths per 100,000 among African Americans, and 22 per 100,000 in the total state population. The age-adjusted rate of diabetes hospitalizations was 445 per 100,000 in the African American population, more than three times the rate in the total state population (125 per 100,000).
Injury

• In 2001-2005, the age-adjusted mortality rate for unintentional injuries (such as car crashes, falls, fires, and drowning) was 41 deaths per 100,000 population among African Americans, and 39 per 100,000 among the total Wisconsin population.

• The age-adjusted mortality rate from homicide was 26 deaths per 100,000 among African Americans, compared to 4 per 100,000 among the total state population. Among African Americans, the rate of death from homicide was 46 per 100,000 among males and 7 per 100,000 among females.

• The age-adjusted suicide death rate was lower in African Americans (7 per 100,000) than in the total state population (11 per 100,000).

Communicable Diseases

• In 2001-2005, African Americans accounted for 37.3 percent of new HIV infections in Wisconsin, while making up about 6 percent of the state’s population. The rate of new HIV infections in African Americans (46.9 cases per 100,000 population) was nearly nine times the rate in whites (5.3 per 100,000).

• For the years 2001-2005, African Americans accounted for 31.8 percent of reported Chlamydia cases, 51.2 percent of reported gonorrhea cases, and 45 percent of reported syphilis cases in Wisconsin.

• Between 2001 and 2005, the number of hepatitis C infections reported among African Americans declined annually (from 589 to 242), although the large number of cases with unknown race makes trends difficult to establish.

• The proportion of African American children aged 19-35 months who have had three or more doses of polio vaccine (92.5% in 2005) is similar to the proportion in all Wisconsin children of that age (94.9%). The proportion who have had three doses of hepatitis B vaccine is also similar.
Oral Health

• In 2001-2005, African Americans were less likely to have visited a dentist recently: 61 percent of African Americans had seen a dentist in the past year, compared to 73 percent of all Wisconsin residents.
Environmental Health

• An estimated 13 percent of African Americans in Wisconsin have been diagnosed with asthma; this is higher than the statewide percentage (9 percent).

• In 2005, 3.4 percent of Wisconsin children tested had elevated levels of lead in their blood. The proportion was higher among African American children tested (9.7%).
Behavioral Health Risks

• An estimated 29 percent of African American adults in Wisconsin smoke cigarettes, based on 2001-2005 survey results. This is higher than in the general Wisconsin population (22%).

• Binge drinking (five or more drinks on one occasion) occurred at a lower rate among African Americans in Wisconsin (16%) than in the total adult population of the state (24%).

• In 2001-2005, 59 percent of African Americans said they were physically inactive in the past month, compared to 45 percent of all Wisconsin adults.

• African Americans were also more likely to be overweight or obese: 70 percent, compared to 60 percent of the total population.
Access to Health Care

• In 2001-2005, the percent of people without health insurance at any point in time was more than twice as high among African Americans (13%) than in the total Wisconsin population (6%).

• Among women age 50 and older, the percentage who received a mammogram in the past year was higher among African American women (76%) than among all Wisconsin women (67%). Rates of other kinds of screening (cholesterol, Pap smear, clinical breast exam) were similar between the African American and total Wisconsin populations.

* Excerpted from: Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Division of Public Health, Bureau of Health Information and Policy. Wisconsin Minority Health Report, 2001-2005 (PPH 5716). January 2008.