Mortality trends in indigenous working-age population of the Koryak Okrug and the population of the Arctic monotown in 1968–1991

Abstract

AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine the primary indicators and main causes of mortality of the indigenous small-number peoples of the North (ISNPN) of the Koryak Okrug. We studied peoples of working age and the impact of various factors on the generalized mortality rates of the regional population. We then compared these mortality rates with those of the same age categories of the nonindigenous immigrant population of Kirovsk, an industrial city, with high mortality rate in a highly urbanized region of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation (Murmansk Oblast). Kirovsk has similar natural and climatic conditions but significant differences in the level of socioeconomic development, based on published scientific sources that study such mortality and socioeconomic trends during current times.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used the official death registrations archived in the Regional Government Registry Offices of three districts of the Koryak Okrug (3720 records) and the city of Kirovsk, Murmansk Oblast (2394 records) for the years from 1968 to 1991. The average annual mortality rates per 100 thousand of the studied population aged from 20 to 59 years were calculated based on the All-Union USSR Population Census of 1979+. The resulting indicators were standardized according to European standards.
 RESULTS: The calculation of generalized regional mortality rates adopted in official statistics does not give a realistic model for the mortality rate and main causes of death of the ISNPN. Mortality rates of the ISNPN significantly exceeded similar indicators of the nonindigenous immigrant population in all classes of diseases. The maximum contribution to mortality rates of the ISNPN comes from the high level of addictive alcoholization, which causes death both as a result of its direct toxic effects, and indirectly, by being the cause of murders, suicides and accidents. Currently, obtaining data for calculating the population mortality rates of ISNPN poses significant difficulties and requires specially prepared and structured statistical diagnostic studies.