Cancer-Related Disparities and opportunities for intervention in Northern Plains American Indian communities

Objectives. We examined behavioral trends associated with cancer risk and cancer screening use from 1997 through 2006 among American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) in the Northern Plains region (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa) of the United States. We also examined disparities between that population and non-Hispanic white (NHW) people in the Northern Plains and AI/ANs in other regions. Methods. We analyzed Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 1997-2000 and 2003-2006. We used age-adjusted Wald Chi-square tests to test the difference between these two periods for AI/ANs and the difference between AI/ANs and NHW people during 2003-2006. Results. There was no statistically significant improvement among AI/ANs in the Northern Plains region for behaviors associated with cancer risk or cancer screening use, and there was a significant increase in the obesity rate. The prevalence of binge drinking, obesity, and smoking among AI/ANs in the Northern Plains was significantly higher than among NHW people in the same region and among AI/AN populations in other regions. Although the percentage of cancer screening use was similar for all three groups, the use of sigmoidoscopy/ colonoscopy was significantly lower among the Northern Plains AI/ANs than among NHW people. Conclusion. These results indicate a need for increased efforts to close the gaps in cancer health disparities between AI/ANs and the general population. Future efforts should focus not only on individual-level changes, but also on system-level changes to build infrastructure to promote healthy living and to increase access to cancer screening.