Santé des Autochtones

  • 9 janvier 2008
    Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004 : Respiratory Health: Frequency of Asthma, Wheezing and Allergies in Inuit Children in Relation to Indoor Air Quality
    Pierre Lajoie, Benoît Lévesque, Marc Rhainds, Louis Rochette

    A respiratory health survey on a representative sample (1023) of Inuit children aged 0 to 14 was undertaken for the first time in Nunavik in 2004. The data on respiratory symptoms and asthma were obtained from a household respondent, usually a parent, by means of the standardized ISAAC questionnaire (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood). Other questions were also asked about various home and environmental variables.

    Results indicate that the prevalence of wheezing, persistent wheezing and severe wheezing is three to four times higher in the 0 to 4 age group compared to the 5 to 14 age group (14.5% vs. 3.4%). In comparison with southern Quebec and many countries, the prevalence of wheezing in younger Inuit children is relatively high, while it is relatively...

  • 9 janvier 2008
    Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004 : Methodological Report
    Louis Rochette, Carole Blanchet

    The Nunavik Inuit Health Survey conducted in 2004 allowed the gathering of significant information on the physical, psychological and social health of the Inuit population. The survey was only possible thanks to the participation of a great number of individuals in planning and carrying it out. The main objective of the present report is to describe in detail the various steps of the survey to provide readers and future database users with a better understanding of its design, data collection logistics and statistical methods. This report could be used as a reference for future surveys of a similar nature among other Native populations. The first section describes the various stages of the survey. The second section is a detailed description of the nutrition part. A variety of survey...

  • 9 janvier 2008
    Enquête de santé auprès des Inuits du Nunavik 2004 : exposition aux contaminants environnementaux au Nunavik : métaux
    Éric Dewailly, Pierre Ayotte, Daria Pereg, Serge Déry, Renée Dallaire, Julie Fontaine, Louis Rochette

    Les Inuits du Nunavik sont exposés aux métaux et aux polluants organiques persistants (POPs) transportés du sud au nord par les courants marins et atmosphériques, et bioamplifiés dans les réseaux alimentaires de l’Arctique. Comme leur régime alimentaire traditionnel comporte d’importantes quantités de mammifères marins, de poissons et de gibier, les Inuits sont davantage exposés à ces contaminants que les populations vivant dans les régions du Sud. Le mercure et le plomb affectent surtout le système nerveux et peuvent causer des déficiences intellectuelles, comportementales et motrices chez les enfants et les adultes. Le principal risque pour la santé associé au cadmium est la toxicité rénale, tandis que l’exposition chronique peut aussi causer l’anémie, la perte osseuse et les...

  • 9 janvier 2008
    Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004 : Epidemiological Portrait of Physical Violence and Property Offences in Nunavik
    Francine Lavoie, Gina Muckle, Sarah Fraser, Olivier Boucher, Louis Rochette

    Many Inuit community members have expressed their concern over increased violence in Nunavik homes and streets. Yet little is known about the actual prevalence of violent behaviour. The objective of this summary is to provide current data on physical violence, the characteristics of adults who are affected by violence, and the origin of perpetrators among the Inuit of Nunavik. Descriptive data on property offences are also provided.

    During the course of the Nunavik Inuit Health Survey in fall 2004, a total of 969 individuals over the age of 15 completed a confidential questionnaire with questions relating to physical and community violence. Among both men and women, 53% reported having been physically abused and 46% reported having been a victim of property damage during the...

  • 9 janvier 2008
    Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004 : Women's Health and Preventive Sexual Behaviour Among Men and Women
    Sylvie Dondin, Claudine Blanchet, Louis Rochette

    This paper describes the state of health of Nunavik Inuit women and the sexual health profile of men and women as reported during the Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004. The results focus on the preventive attitude among women such as screening techniques of cervical and breast cancer and also on women’s behaviour during pregnancy and their bone health status. It also concentrates on preventive sexual behaviours among men and women such as the number of sexual partners in the preceding year and the use of contraceptives.

    More than four out of five Inuit adult women had a Pap test in the two years before the survey (82%), and 60% of them had one in the previous 12 months. The use of the Pap test is less frequent among adult women with lower levels of education. Among those who had...

  • 9 janvier 2008
    Enquête de santé auprès des Inuits du Nunavik 2004 : santé respiratoire : fréquence de l’asthme, de la sibilance et des allergies chez les enfants inuits en relation avec la qualité de l’air intérieur
    Pierre Lajoie, Benoît Lévesque, Marc Rhainds, Louis Rochette

    En 2004, une enquête sur la santé respiratoire des enfants a été réalisée pour la première fois au Nunavik auprès d’un échantillon représentatif (1023) d’enfants inuits âgés de 0 à 14 ans. Les données sur les symptômes respiratoires et l’asthme ont été obtenues par l’intermédiaire d’un membre du ménage, le plus souvent un parent, grâce au questionnaire ISAAC (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood) standardisé. Des questions portant sur diverses variables domestiques et environnementales ont aussi été posées.

    Les résultats indiquent que la prévalence de la sibilance (wheezing), de la sibilance persistante et de la sibilance grave était trois à quatre fois plus élevée chez les enfants de 0 à 4 ans que chez ceux de 5 à 14 ans (14,5 % vs 3,4 %). Comparativement...

  • 9 janvier 2008
    Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004 : Status of Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes in Nunavik
    Éric Dewailly, Marie-Ludivine Chateau-Degat, Jean-Marie Ékoé, Robert Ladouceur, Louis Rochette

    Initial observational studies presented the Inuit as a population particularly protected against cardiovascular diseases (CVD), the plague of developed countries. However, because of the abandonment of traditional lifestyles, and the high prevalence of some risk factors (such as smoking 73% and obesity 19%), conclusions from the 1992 Santé Québec health survey of the Inuit population from Nunavik anticipated an increase in CVD. Twelve years later, the Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004 produced a new portrait of the health of this Inuit population in order to determine, among other health conditions, the prevalence of CVD and diabetes as well as their corresponding risk factors, and to assess the evolution of these health outcomes since 1992.

    In this major health study, 1056...

  • 9 janvier 2008
    Enquête de santé auprès des Inuits du Nunavik 2004 : la santé des femmes et les comportements sexuels préventifs des hommes et des femmes
    Sylvie Dondin, Claudine Blanchet, Louis Rochette

    Ce résumé traite de la santé des femmes inuites du Nunavik ainsi que de la santé sexuelle des hommes et des femmes telle qu’elle a été rapportée lors de l’Enquête de santé auprès des Inuits du Nunavik en 2004. Les résultats portent sur les pratiques préventives des femmes en matière de santé – notamment les techniques de dépistage du cancer du col utérin et du sein, leur comportement pendant la grossesse ainsi que l’état de santé de leurs os. Ce résumé s’intéresse par ailleurs aux comportements sexuels préventifs des hommes et des femmes tels que le nombre de partenaires sexuels au cours de la dernière année et l’utilisation de méthodes contraceptives.

    Plus de quatre femmes inuites adultes sur cinq avaient subi un test PAP au cours des deux années précédant l’enquête (82 %), et...

  • 9 janvier 2008
    Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004 : Zoonotic Diseases, Drinking Water and Gastroenteritis in Nunavik: a Brief Portrait
    Valérie Messier, Benoît Lévesque, Jean-François Proulx, Brian Ward, Michael Libman, Michel Couillard, Bruno Hébert, Louis Rochette

    In Nunavik, common practices such as the consumption of untreated water and raw game may promote exposure to pathogenic agents responsible for zoonoses, infections that may be transmitted from animals to humans, as well as for food-borne and water-borne infections. As part of the 2004 Nunavik Inuit Health Survey, information was gathered to depict the supply of drinking water and to determine the prevalence of certain infections among the Inuit population, including gastroenteritis.

    The results reveal that the region and socioeconomic characteristics (age, education and revenue) of the main respondents (n = 521) were associated with the supply of drinking water in households (source of drinking water, type of treatment used in the house and frequency of cleaning the domestic...

  • 9 janvier 2008
    Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004 : Exposure to Environmental Contaminants in Nunavik: Metals
    Éric Dewailly, Pierre Ayotte, Daria Pereg, Serge Déry, Renée Dallaire, Julie Fontaine, Louis Rochette

    The Inuit of Nunavik are exposed to metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that are carried from southern to northern latitudes by oceanic and atmospheric transport and biomagnified in Arctic food webs. As the Inuit traditional diet comprises large amounts of tissues from marine mammals, fish and terrestrial wild game, the Inuit are more exposed to these contaminants than populations living in southern regions. Mercury and lead mainly affect the nervous system and can cause cognitive, behavioural and motor impairment in children and adults. The major health risk associated with cadmium is renal toxicity, whereas chronic exposure can also cause anemia, bone loss and cardiovascular disease. The objectives of this study, conducted within the framework of the Nunavik Inuit Health...

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