Grant: Operating Grant - PA: Regional Partnership Program : Manitoba

The prevalence of diabetes and cardiovascular disease among Canada's First Nation populations is, for the most part, greater than among the general Canadian population. Both of these related conditions are the cause of decreased quality of life, increased morbidity and premature mortality. The increased disease prevalence among Canadian First Nation people began to be noted in the 1980's. Since that time the problem has been worsening; diabetes and cardiovascular disease among First Nation people begin at earlier ages and are associated with a higher prevalence of complications than among the general population. Established risk factors for these conditions include family history, unhealthy diet, inactivity, obesity, smoking and hypertension. Disease prevention interventions are required but need careful planning. One factor that has not yet been explored in adequate detail is the impact of stress on disease and risk factor occurrence. The social circumstances shared by many First Nations people are sources of profound stress. We have previously developed a stress questionnaire that incorporates aspects of life on a First Nation community that were not part of existing stress questionnaires. Using our questionnaire we were able to determine aspects of stress at the individual, family and community level. We found that these stressors were associated with disease independent of established risk factors, in other words above and beyond obesity, smoking and hypertension. The purpose of the proposed research is to further explore the role of stress, a non-traditional risk factor, among the same group of people who participated in earlier studies. This follow-up will allow us to better understand the role of stress in disease and risk factor occurrence which will help us design more comprehensive, targeted and relevant disease prevention interventions.