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Objectives: We examined disparities in perinatal care, birth outcomes, and infant health between rural American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) persons and rural Whites over time., Methods: We compared perinatal and infant health measures for 217 064 rural AIAN births and 5 032 533 rural non-Hispanic White births., Results: Among American Indians and Alaska Natives, unadjusted rates of inadequate prenatal care (1985-1987, 36.3%; 1995-1997, 26.3%) and postneonatal death (1985-1987, 7.1 per 1000; 1995-1997, 4.8 per 1000) improved significantly. However, disparities between American Indians and Alaska Natives and Whites in adjusted odds ratios (AORs) of postneonatal death (1985-1987, AOR = 1.55; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.41, 1.71; 1995-1997, AOR = 1.46; 95% CI = 1.31, 1.64) and adjusted risk ratios (ARRs) of inadequate prenatal care (1985-1987, ARR = 1.67; 95% CI = 1.65, 1.69; 1995-1997, ARR = 1.84; 95% CI = 1.81, 1.87) persisted., Conclusions: Despite significant decreases in inadequate prenatal care and postneonatal death among American Indians and Alaska Natives, additional measures are needed to close persistent health gaps for this group.

Objectives: We sought to provide a national profile of rural and urban American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) maternal and infant health., Methods: In this cross-sectional study of all 1989-1991 singleton AI/AN births to US residents, we compared receipt of an inadequate pattern of prenatal care, low birthweight (< 2500 g), infant mortality, and cause of death for US rural and urban AI/AN and non-AI/AN populations., Results: Receipt of an inadequate pattern of prenatal care was significantly higher for rural than for urban mothers of AI/AN infants (18.1% vs 14.4%, P

Objectives: This study uses Indian Health Service inpatient data to estimate cancer incidence among American Indians and Alaska Natives., Methods: Hospital discharge data for 1980 through 1987 were used to identify cases of cancer for 21 sites in women and 18 sites in men. Estimates of incidence were directly standardized to data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program for the same time frame., Results: Cancers of the gallbladder, kidney, stomach, and cervix show generally high rates among many American Indian and Alaska Native communities, and cancers of the liver and nasopharynx are high in Alaska. Of the relatively common cancers in Whites, American Indians and Alaska Natives experience lower rates for cancers of the breast, uterus, ovaries, prostate, lung, colon, rectum, and urinary bladder and for leukemia and melanoma. Variation among geographic areas and among tribal groups is observed for many important cancer sites., Conclusions: This study demonstrates significant variations of cancer rates among American Indians and Alaska Natives, with important implications for Indian Health Service cancer control programs. The study also supports the potential use of hospital discharge data for estimating chronic disease among diverse American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

The Ambulatory Sentinel Practice Network (ASPN) is a network of primary health care practices across the United States and Canada offering (1) a laboratory for the study of populations under the care of primary care providers, and (2) surveillance of primary care problems and services. This paper reports the methods and policies developed and used by ASPN to conduct studies and describes the initial sentinel practices.