Discovering unique tobacco use patterns among Alaska Native people

Alaska Native people are disproportionately impacted by tobacco-related diseases in comparison to non-Native Alaskans. We used Alaska's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to describe tobacco use among more than 4,100 Alaska Native adults, stratified by geographic region and demo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of circumpolar health 2013-01, Vol.72 (1), p.21208-9
Main Authors: Dilley, Julia A., Peterson, Erin, Hiratsuka, Vanessa Y., Rohde, Kristen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Alaska - epidemiology
Arctic Regions - epidemiology
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
Female
Humans
Indians
Inuits
Male
Middle Aged
North American
Prevalence
Risk Factors
smokeless
Smoking - ethnology
Smoking/epidemiology
Socioeconomic Factors
Supplement 1, 2013
Tobacco
Tobacco Use - ethnology
Young Adult
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Summary:Alaska Native people are disproportionately impacted by tobacco-related diseases in comparison to non-Native Alaskans. We used Alaska's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to describe tobacco use among more than 4,100 Alaska Native adults, stratified by geographic region and demographic groups. Overall tobacco use was high: approximately 2 out of every 5 Alaska Native adults reported smoking cigarettes (41.2%) and 1 in 10 reported using smokeless tobacco (SLT, 12.3%). A small percentage overall (4.8%) reported using iq'mik, an SLT variant unique to Alaska Native people. When examined by geographic region, cigarette smoking was highest in remote geographic regions; SLT use was highest in the southwest region of the state. Use of iq'mik was primarily confined to a specific area of the state; further analysis showed that 1 in 3 women currently used iq'mik in this region. Our results suggest that different types of tobacco use are epidemic among diverse Alaska Native communities. Our results also illustrate that detailed analysis within racial/ethnic groups can be useful for public health programme planning to reduce health disparities.
ISSN:2242-3982
1239-9736
2242-3982
DOI:10.3402/ijch.v72i0.21208