Examining the Impact of First Nations Status on the Relationship Between Diabetes and Cancer.

This population-based study examined the relationship between diabetes and cancer and determined if this relationship was influenced by First Nations (FN) status. In a matched case-cohort study, individuals 30-74 years of age diagnosed with diabetes during 1984-2008 in the province of Manitoba, Canada, with no cancer diagnosis before their diabetes diagnosis were matched to one diabetes-free control by age, sex, FN status, and residence. Flexible competing risk and Royston-Parmar regression models were used to compare cancer rates.

Conceptualizations of help-seeking for mental health concerns in First Nations communities in Canada: A comparison of fit with the Andersen Behavioral Model.

This qualitative study explored the fit between on-reserve First Nations community members' conceptualizations of help-seeking for mental health concerns and the Andersen Behavioral Model of Health Services Use. Youth, adults and elders (N = 115) living and or working in eight distinct First Nations communities within a tribal council area in Canada participated in focus groups or individual interviews that were transcribed, coded and then analyzed using a thematic analysis approach informed by grounded theory methodology. Resulting themes were then mapped onto the Andersen Behavioral Model of Health Services Use.

Creating a Canadian Indigenous Research Network Against Cancer to Address Indigenous Cancer Disparities.

Purpose: In Canada, indigenous peoples' cancer rates have increased, but cancer screening rates tend to be lower. When coupled with poor cancer prognosis, treatment barriers, and inaccessible health care, indigenous patients with cancer experience many unmet needs. Further complicating their journey is a multijurisdictional system that complicates cancer control services, treatments, patient supports, and cancer surveillance.

Tuberculosis among northern Manitoba First Nations, 2008-2012: program performance on- and off-reserve.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to: (1) report tuberculosis (TB) program performance for northern First Nations in the province of Manitoba; (2) present methods for TB program performance measurement using routinely collected surveillance data; and (3) advance dialogue on performance measurement of Canadian TB programs.

Methods: Data on a retrospective cohort of people diagnosed with TB in Manitoba between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2010, and their contacts, were extracted from the Manitoba TB Registry. Performance measures based on US-CDC were analyzed.

Prevalence and Incidence of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Canadian First Nations and Non-First Nations People: A Population-Based Study.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, incidence, and onset age at rheumatoid arthritis (RA) diagnosis in First Nations (FN) and non-FN populations in Manitoba, Canada.

Methods: Population-based administrative health records from April 1, 1995, to March 31, 2010, were accessed for all Manitobans. The FN population was identified using the Federal Indian Registry File.

Health, Social, Education, and Justice Outcomes of Manitoba First Nations Children Diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: A Population-Based Cohort Study of Linked Administrative Data.

Objective: To examine health services, social services, education, and justice system outcomes among First Nations children and youth with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, health and social services, education, and justice data were linked with clinical records on First Nations (FN) individuals aged 1 to 25 and diagnosed with FASD between 1999 and 2010 ( = 743). We compared the FN FASD group to non-FN individuals with FASD (non-FN FASD; = 315) and to First Nations individuals (matched on age, sex, and income) not diagnosed with FASD (FN non-FASD; = 2229).

Translating to the Community (T2C): a protocol paper describing the development of Canada's first social epigenetic FASD biobank.

Translating to the Community (T2C) is a social biorepository designed to advance new diagnostic tools and realign community-clinical processes, with the aim to mitigate the short- and long-term impacts of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) as well as prenatal alcohol exposure and its co-morbidities and behaviors. In this paper, we describe the evolution of this repository as a new translational partnership to advance a precision-medicine approach to FASD. Key to its evolution was a partnership between academic researchers, Indigenous communities, families, and a regional diagnostic clinic.

One little, too little: Counting Canada's indigenous people for improved health reporting.

The way state governments, worldwide, count or do not count Indigenous peoples has contributed to inconsistent reporting of Indigenous health statistics. To address unreliable reporting in Canada, we reviewed laws on Indian status and the development of a national Indian Registration System (IRS) to track Indian status and eligibility. With this information as a guide, we linked the IRS to the Manitoba provincial health registry systems and were able to identify individuals with Indian status for health reporting.

Mammography rates for breast cancer screening: a comparison of First Nations women and all other women living in Manitoba, Canada, 1999-2008.

Introduction: First Nations (FN) women historically have low rates of preventive care, including breast cancer screening. We describe the frequency of breast cancer screening among FN women living in Manitoba and all other Manitoba (AOM) women after the introduction of a provincial, organized breast screening program and explore how age, area of residence, and time period influenced breast cancer screening participation.

Methods: The federal Indian Registry was linked to 2 population-based, provincial data sources.

Moving beyond the historical quagmire of measuring infant mortality for the First Nations population in Canada.

Infant mortality is a metric influenced by societal, political and medical advances. The way vital events are collected and reported are not always uniform. A lack of uniformity has disadvantaged some groups in society.

Pap test use and cervical cancer incidence in First Nations women living in Manitoba.

This study examined Papanicolaou (Pap) test utilization, Pap test results, and cervical cancer incidence among First Nations (FN) women living in Manitoba, Canada taking into account age group, time period, and area of residence. Six population-based data sources were linked at an individual level. Negative binomial regression was used to compare Pap test utilization and results between FN and all other Manitoba (AOM) women.

Colorectal cancer screening in first nations people living in Manitoba.

Background: Because the burden of colorectal cancer (CRC) seems to be increasing in First Nations, it is important to better understand CRC screening utilization. The objective of this study was to describe CRC screening among First Nations living in Manitoba.

Methods: The Federal Indian Register was linked to two provincial databases.

Quantifying the impact of dissimilar HPV vaccination uptake among Manitoban school girls by ethnicity using a transmission dynamic model.

Background: Gardasil, a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, began among grade 6 girls in Manitoba, Canada in 2008. In Manitoba, there is evidence that First Nations, Métis, and Inuit women (FNMI) have higher HPV prevalence, lower invasive cervical cancer (ICC) screening, and higher ICC incidence than all other Manitoban (AOM) women. We developed a mathematical model to assess the plausible impact of unequal vaccination coverage among school girls on future cervical cancer incidence.

Prevalence of genetic variants associated with inflammatory bowel disease in a healthy First Nations cohort.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease is the result of both genes and environment. Canadian First Nations people, despite living in a region with a high prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease, are relatively protected from this disease. We aimed to compare the carriage of genetic variants associated with inflammatory bowel disease in healthy First Nations and white people.

Oral health in a First Nations and a non-Aboriginal population in Manitoba.

Objectives: To analyze the prevalence of poor oral health and selected determinants in First Nations (FN) and Caucasian samples in Manitoba, Canada.

Study Design: Cross-sectional survey, nested in a cohort study.

Methods: FN and Caucasian participants completed a questionnaire on socio-demographic variables, oral health symptoms, and oral health-related behaviours as part of a broader cohort study comparing these ethnic groups for different chronic immune mediated diseases.

Familial clustering of the serum cytokine profile in the relatives of rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is prevalent in North American Native populations, with a high frequency of multicase families and seropositivity in first-degree relatives. This study was undertaken to determine whether the serum cytokine profile of first-degree relatives of North American Native patients with RA differed from that of individuals with no family history of autoimmunity and whether there was an association with RA autoantibodies.

Methods: North American Native patients with RA (n = 105), their first-degree relatives (n = 273), healthy North American Native controls (n = 200), and Caucasian controls (n = 150) were studied.