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Chronic Diseases in Canada

Volume 31, no. 1, December 2010

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Article 4

Figure 1
Utilization of health services by Aboriginal people aged 15 years and over in the Northa and Southb of Canada by type of provider and by arthritis status

The proportion of individuals who report consulting a health professional (primary care physician or nurse) or traditional healer anytime in the 12 months preceding the survey was higher among individuals with arthritis than those without the condition. (In the North, OR = 2.32, 95% CI: 2.10-2.56; in the South, OR = 2.25, 95% CI: 2.17-2.33). In the North, arthritis patients consulted nurses and traditional healers more and physicians less frequently than those in the South.

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Article 5

Figure 1
Prevalence of obesity by age and sex in a Canadian First Nation population.

We used BMI and waist circumference to classify participants as obese by age and sex. Almost 50% of men and 65% of women were obese as defined by BMI, and 53% of men and 81% of women had abdominal obesity. Obesity was more common among women than men according to BMI (χ2 = 14.62, p < .001) and abdominal obesity (χ2 = 41.38, p < .001). The prevalence of BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 was higher among women aged 18 to 29 years than among men of the same age group (χ2 = 9.06, p < .01). Abdominal obesity was significantly more common for women than for men in all age groups except 40 to 9 years. Three-quarters of women aged 18 to 29 years had abdominal obesity

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Figure 2
Percentage of sample with chronic conditions (obesity, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia) by age and sex in a Canadian First Nation population.

We determined the extent of comorbidity among this population for 4 chronic conditions: obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. The distribution of chronic conditions by age and sex showed that women aged 18 to 29 and aged 50 or older had significantly more chronic conditions than men of the same age groups. Twenty-two percent (16 of 73) of men and 43% (30 of 69) of women aged 18 to 29 had 2 or more preventable chronic conditions. Among participants with abdominal obesity, 48% (147 of 303) had hypertension and 35% (111 of 313) had diabetes. Thirty-seven percent (54 of 147) of the hypertension and 26% (29 of 111) of diabetes cases among these participants were undiagnosed.

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