Exceptional Mortality Risk Among Police-Identified Young Black Male Gang Members

Researchers constructed three analytic samples composed of black males aged 15–35 years by merging cases of the Gang Member-Linked Mortality Files (GM-LMFs) with National Vital Statistics System and Census data in the years 1993–2016. They calculated mortality rates standardized to the 15–35-year-old 2010 U.S. male population for all-cause (1477.4, 99% CI = 1451.5–1503.3), homicide (950.1, 99% CI = 932.2–967.9), non-homicide injury (314.0, 99% CI = 308.8–319.2), and non-injury (213.3, 99% CI = 202.3–224.4) deaths in the GM-LMFs. Among young black Americans, these outcomes distinguish a key source of excess mortality. The results considered that in the USA, health policies and interventions may be most efficacious when they acknowledge, address, and incorporate information about and target high-risk populations, including gang members, that contribute to relatively high mortality risk.

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