Journal
PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTS
Volume 125, Issue 1, Pages 68-78Publisher
ASSOC SCHOOLS PUBLIC HEALTH
DOI: 10.1177/003335491012500110
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Health Resources and Services Administration
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objective. We assessed health status and behavioral risks in American Indians (Als) from rural, northern plains reservation communities. Methods. Al interviewers from the communities administered the core and optional modules of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to 404 Al adults randomly selected from housing lists from four Al tribal communities located on the northern plains of the U.S. The BRFSS interview assessed several health functioning areas including medical conditions, preventive screenings, and behavioral risks. We measured health disparities by comparing the Al sample data with a northern plains statewide (North Dakota) sample and a U.S. national sample. We compared outcomes with BRFSS statewide (North Dakota) and U.S. national data from telephone-based interviews. Results. Al participants showed a significantly greater prevalence of diabetes, coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, smoking, obesity, and heavy alcohol use than either the regional or national samples. They also reported being less likely to engage in leisure-time physical activity and to have had age-appropriate preventive screenings for several diseases including colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Conclusions. Face-to-face interviews conducted by Al community members are an effective means of gathering health information about Als living in rural, reservation communities. Als living in these communities on the northern plains have a much higher prevalence of many health-risk behaviors and some medical conditions than are found in the general population. Improved health-care access, better preventive screenings, and culturally appropriate community-based health promotion programs and policies should be examined as possible ways to reduce health disparities.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available