Publications by authors named "Kimberly R Huyser"
Objective: To explore the prevalence of obesity among American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) adolescents aged 12-19 years in association with social determinants of health (SDOH), and mental health and substance use disorders.
Methods: Guided by the World Health Organization's Social Determinants of Health Framework, we examined data from the Indian Health Service (IHS) Improving Health Care Delivery Data Project from Fiscal Year 2013, supplemented by county-level data from the U.S.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to explore how pre-pregnancy diabetes, gestational diabetes, body mass index, and social factors at the county level relate to infant macrosomia among American Indian/Alaska Native women receiving care from the Indian Health Service.
- Data was collected from 1,136 births in 2011, using mixed models to analyze the relationships between maternal health status, social determinants, and macrosomia.
- Findings revealed that younger mothers, higher rates of overweight/obesity, and certain diabetes conditions increased the likelihood of having larger infants, highlighting critical health disparities in this population.
Indigenous Peoples are at an increased risk for infectious disease, including COVID-19, due to the historically embedded deleterious social determinants of health. Furthermore, structural limitations in Canadian federal government data contribute to the lack of comparative rates of COVID-19 between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. To make visible Indigenous Peoples' experiences in the public health discourse in the midst of COVID-19, this paper aims to answer the following interrelated research questions: (1) What are the associations of key social determinants of health and COVID-19 cases among Canadian health regions? and (2) How do these relationships relate to Indigenous communities? As both proximal and distal social determinants of health conjointly contribute to COVID-19 impacts on Indigenous health, this study used a unique dataset assembled from multiple sources to examine the associations among key social determinants of health characteristics and health with a focus on Indigenous Peoples.
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- - The study investigates how social determinants of health (SDOH) influence overweight and obesity rates among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children aged 2-11 who used Indian Health Service between 2010 and 2014.
- - About 49% of the children were classified as overweight or obese, with severe obesity at 20% for ages 6-11, revealing a notable impact of poverty on these health outcomes.
- - Findings suggest that higher poverty levels correlate with increased chances of being overweight/obese, indicating the need for targeted efforts in research and policy to tackle economic instability among young AI/AN populations.
Article Synopsis
- The ASSET study aims to explore how economic engagement impacts health and well-being in inner-city populations, especially among drug users in Vancouver, Canada.
- It includes a diverse cohort of 257 participants with a median age of 51, most of whom are daily drug users; many rely on informal income over formal employment.
- The study uses both quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to gather data, which will help develop policies and programs addressing the socioeconomic factors affecting these communities.
Background: We assessed the role of missing and murdered indigenous relatives (MMIR) relevant causes of death in the life expectancy gap between the American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) and non-Hispanic White populations.
Methods: Using 2010-2019 National Center for Health Statistics Detailed Mortality files, we created multidecrement life tables and used the age-incidence decomposition method to identify (1) the causes of death that contribute to the gap in life expectancy between White and AIAN, and (2) the mechanisms through which these causes operate.
Results: Causes of death relevant to MMIR constituted 4.
Objective: American Indian and Alaska Native peoples (AI/AN) have a disproportionately high rate of obesity, but little is known about the social determinants of obesity among older AI/AN. Thus, our study assessed social determinants of obesity in AI/AN aged ≥ 50 years.
Design: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using multivariate generalised linear mixed models to identify social determinants associated with the risk of being classified as obese (BMI ≥ 30·0 kg/m).
Public Health 3.0 calls for the inclusion of new partners and novel data to bring systemic change to the US public health landscape. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has illuminated significant data gaps influenced by ongoing colonial legacies of racism and erasure.
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- - The study focuses on the health and daily living limitations of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) veterans compared to white veterans, using data from the 2010 National Survey of Veterans.
- - Findings reveal that AI/AN veterans tend to be younger, have lower incomes, and face greater exposure to combat and environmental hazards than their white counterparts.
- - AI/AN veterans are more likely to report poor health and have difficulties with activities of daily living (ADLs), suggesting they need extra support from family and Veterans Affairs to cope with these challenges.
The Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disproportionally affected Indigenous Peoples. Unfortunately, there is no accurate understanding of COVID-19's impacts on Indigenous Peoples and communities due to systematic erasure of Indigenous representation in data. Early evidence suggests that COVID-19 has been able to spread through pre-pandemic mechanisms ranging from disproportionate chronic health conditions, inadequate access to healthcare, and poor living conditions stemming from structural inequalities.
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- - Indigenous Peoples in the U.S. face higher rates of COVID-19 infection, complications, and mortality, with Native populations reportedly 3.5 times more affected than non-Hispanic whites; this figure is likely an underestimate due to poor data quality.
- - Key issues in data collection include inadequate representation of Indigenous individuals and frequent misclassification, which highlights the need for better Indigenous data sovereignty regarding COVID-19 statistics.
- - To improve the situation, it's crucial for federal and state governments to enhance data availability and quality for American Indian and Alaska Native populations while honoring Tribal rights to access this data, especially in the context of systemic racism.
Article Synopsis
- The study examines how socioeconomic disadvantages and the presence of Indigenous populations impact COVID-19 case numbers in New Mexico at the ZIP code level.
- A significant positive correlation was found between confirmed COVID-19 cases and both concentrated disadvantage and income inequality, with differences noted across various ZIP codes.
- The research emphasizes the need for targeted COVID-19 mitigation efforts in disadvantaged areas, including access to clean water and educational resources in Indigenous languages.
Native Americans are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. The present study explores whether areas with high percentages of Native American residents are experiencing the equal risks of contracting COVID-19 by examining how the relationships between structural inequalities and confirmed COVID-19 cases spatially vary across Arizona using a geographically weighted regression (GWR). GWR helps with the identification of areas with high confirmed COVID-19 cases in Arizona and with understanding of which predictors of social inequalities are associated with confirmed COVID-19 cases at specific locations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The American Indian (AI) population experiences significant diet-related health disparities including diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Owing to the relatively small sample size of AIs, the population is rarely included in large national surveys such as the NHANES. This exclusion hinders efforts to characterize potentially important differences between AI men and women, track the costs of these disparities, and effectively treat and prevent these conditions.
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- The study investigates the impact of living on U.S. American Indian reservations on mental health, suggesting that longer residency correlates with lower psychological distress.
- Data from two tribes indicates that those who spend most of their lives on reservations experience less mental health issues compared to those who live off or near them.
- The findings challenge common perceptions about tribal life and highlight the need for a deeper understanding of American Indians' experiences with their reservation lands.
Civic engagement and political participation among American Indians and Alaska natives in the US.
Polit Groups Identities
February 2016
Within the growing literature seeking to understand civic and political engagement among racial and ethnic minorities, our understanding of political behavior among American Indian and Alaska Native's (AI/AN) remains limited. We use the Current Population Survey Civic Engagement and Voting and Registration supplements (2006-2012) to compare AI/AN voter registration, voting, and overall civic engagement to other racial and ethnic groups and to assess whether factors that predict higher levels of civic engagement vary across these populations. We find a few key socio-economic status indicators that predict civic and political engagement uniquely for AI/ANs, but they are not consistently significant across all years or all types of political participation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFood insecurity increases the risk for obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cancer-conditions highly prevalent among American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs). Using the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement, we analyzed the food insecurity trends of AI/ANs compared to other racial and ethnic groups in the United States from 2000 to 2010. From 2000 to 2010, 25% of AI/ANs remained consistently food insecure and AI/ANs were twice as likely to be food insecure compared to whites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGiven their unique occupational hazards and sizable population, military veterans are an important population for the study of health. Yet veterans are by no means homogeneous, and there are unanswered questions regarding the extent of, and explanations for, racial and ethnic differences in veterans' health. Using the 2010 National Survey of Veterans, we first documented race/ethnic differences in self-rated health and limitations in Activities of Daily Living among male veterans aged 30-84.
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- The study explored the links between serious psychological distress, blood glucose levels (HbA1c), and body mass index (BMI) in American Indian and Alaska Native individuals with type 2 diabetes participating in a cardiovascular disease prevention program.
- Initial results showed that higher psychological distress was associated with increased HbA1c and BMI at the start of the study, but these relationships became non-significant after adjusting for other demographic and health factors.
- The authors call for more research into the factors that contribute to the relationship between psychological distress and diabetes outcomes, suggesting that longer observation periods may be necessary to fully understand these connections.