Self-rated health among Greenlandic Inuit and Norwegian Sami adolescents: associated risk and protective correlates

• Published in: International Journal of Circumpolar Health
• Main Authors: Anna Rita Spein, Cecilia Petrine Pedersen, Anne Cathrine Silviken, Marita Melhus, Siv Eli Kvernmo, Peter Bjerregaard
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2013
• Subjects: adolescents; Arctic; indigenous; Inuit; protective factors; risk factors; Sami; self-rated health (SRH); suicidal behaviours; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Greenland; Circumpolar Health; greenlandic; International Journal of Circumpolar Health; inuit; sami
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v72i0.19793; https://doaj.org/article/d2b1cd851fe84d16871d6bc6cc3f0c0b

Objectives. Self-rated health (SRH) and associated risk and protective correlates were investigated among two indigenous adolescent populations, Greenlandic Inuit and Norwegian Sami. Design. Cross-sectional data were collected from “Well-being among Youth in Greenland” (WBYG) and “The Norwegian Arctic Adolescent Health Study” (NAAHS), conducted during 2003–2005 and comprising 10th and 11th graders, 378 Inuit and 350 Sami. Methods. SRH was assessed by one single item, using a 4-point and 5-point scale for NAAHS and WBYG, respectively. Logistic regressions were performed separately for each indigenous group using a dichotomous measure with “very good” (NAAHS) and “very good/good” (WBYG) as reference categories. We simultaneously controlled for various socio-demographics, risk correlates (drinking, smoking, violence and suicidal behaviour) and protective correlates (physical activity, well-being in school, number of close friends and adolescent–parent relationship). Results. A majority of both Inuit (62%) and Sami (89%) youth reported “good” or “very good” SRH. The proportion of “poor/fair/not so good” SRH was three times higher among Inuit than Sami (38% vs. 11%, p≤0.001). Significantly more Inuit females than males reported “poor/fair” SRH (44% vs. 29%, p≤0.05), while no gender differences occurred among Sami (12% vs. 9%, p≤0.08). In both indigenous groups, suicidal thoughts (risk) and physical activity (protective) were associated with poor and good SRH, respectively. Conclusions. In accordance with other studies of indigenous adolescents, suicidal thoughts were strongly associated with poorer SRH among Sami and Inuit. The Inuit–Sami differences in SRH could partly be due to higher “risk” and lower “protective” correlates among ...