Background: Acculturation is for indigenous peoples related to the process of colonisation over centuries as well as the on-going social transition experienced in the Arctic today. Changing living conditions and lifestyle affect health in numerous ways in Arctic indigenous populations. Self-rated health (SRH) is a relevant variable in primary health care and in general public health assessments and monitoring. Exploring the relationship between acculturation and SRH in indigenous populations having experienced great societal and cultural change is thus of great importance.
Methods: The principal method in the Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA) was standardised face-to-face interviews using a questionnaire. Very high overall participation rates of 83% were obtained in Greenland and Alaska, whilst a more conventional rate of 57% was achieved in Norway. Acculturation was conceptualised as certain traditional subsistence activities being of lesser importance for people's ethnic identity, and poorer spoken indigenous language ability (SILA). Acculturation was included in six separate gender- and country-specific ordinal logistic regressions to assess qualitative effects on SRH.
Results: Multivariable analyses showed that acculturation significantly predicted poorer SRH in Greenland. An increased subsistence score gave an OR of 2.32 (P<0.001) for reporting poorer SRH among Greenlandic men, while an increased score for Greenlandic women generated an OR of 1.71 (P=0.01). Poorer SILA generated an OR of 1.59 in men (p=0.03). In Alaska, no evidence of acculturation effects was detected among Iñupiaq men. Among Iñupiaq women, an increased subsistence score represented an increased odds of 73% (p=0.026) for reporting poorer SRH. No significant effects of acculturation on SRH were detected in Norway.
Conclusions: This study shows that aggregate acculturation is a strong risk factor for poorer SRH among the Kalaallit of Greenland and female Iñupiat of Alaska, but our cross-sectional study design does not allow any conclusion with regard to causality. Limitations with regard to wording, categorisations, assumed cultural differences in the conceptualisation of SRH, and confounding effects of health care use, SES and discrimination, make it difficult to appropriately assess how strong this effect is though.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3497910 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-948 | DOI Listing |
Purpose: To determine the status of depression and its key influencing factors among Chinese older adults in different living situations.
Method: Data of 7,092 older adults were obtained from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey. This study analyzed key variables influencing depressive symptoms using random forest modeling and logistic regression.
J Dent Sci
January 2025
Department of Oral Hygiene, College of Dental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Background/purpose: Dentists often focus on masticatory performance (MP) rather than masticatory ability (MA) and treatment expectations when evaluating older adults. This study aimed to determine if MA aligns with MP and to explore influencing factors.
Materials And Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling, including one thousand community-dwelling adults aged 60 and older.
SSM Popul Health
March 2025
School of Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
Wealth resources has received little attention when studying how socioeconomic status shapes health outcomes. In the United States (USA), there is a growing body of evidence acknowledging a widening racial/ethnic wealth gap. However, little is known about wealth's role in shaping health inequity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Public Health
January 2025
Health and Society, Department of Social Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen, 6706KN, The Netherlands.
Background: A healthy diet during pregnancy is vital for the well-being of both mothers and babies. However, navigating dietary choices amidst the unique psychological and physiological changes of pregnancy can be challenging. Empowerment, defined as the ability to improve capacities, critically analyse situations, and take actions to improve them, can support pregnant women to make healthier choices.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Med Res Methodol
January 2025
Faculty of Social Sciences (Health Sciences) and Gerontology Research Center (GEREC), Tampere Universities, Tampere, Finland.
Background And Method: This study set out to identify the factors and combinations of factors associated with the individual's premature death, using data from the Finnish Longitudinal Study on Ageing Municipal Employees (FLAME) which involved 6,257 participants over a 29-year follow-up period. Exact dates of death were obtained from the Finnish population register. Premature death was defined as a death occurring earlier than the age- and sex-specific actuarial life expectancy indicated by life tables for 1981, as the baseline, with the threshold period of nine months.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!