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Background: American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) cigarette smoking prevalence is disproportionately high, especially in the northern United States. Tailored quitlines are needed to support AI/AN commercial tobacco users with quitting. Objectives: Obtain community feedback by working with trusted AI/AN partners; genuinely incorporate feedback into program design; collaboratively develop and implement culturally relevant quitline services for Minnesota's AI/AN community. Methods: Working in partnership, AI/AN community input was gathered, and community partners were engaged to inform the development, training, implementation and monitoring of a tailored program within the existing state quitline. Results: Findings suggest focusing on the commercial tobacco user/coach relationship, increased cultural understanding and program content adaptations could make quitlines more acceptable for AI/AN commercial tobacco users. Conclusions: The development and launch of the AI Quitline demonstrated the feasibility of collaboration among AI/AN organizations and community members, funders and providers to create a culturally relevant cessation service for AI/AN commercial tobacco users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, the authors discuss how the reconstruction and use of tribal data, practice of equity, and data sovereignty to fit modern practices can effectively improve American Indian and Alaska native public health data systems in the U.S. Also cited are how colonialism and efforts to eliminate tribal cultures have led to the abolition of tribal data practices in the said systems, as well as the tribes' practices in areas like kinship, travel, and access to safe food and medicine.

Objectives. We examined relationships between otitis media risk factors, sociodemographic characteristics, and maternal knowledge and attitudes and early onset of otitis media. Methods. Pregnant women from Minnesota American Indian reservations and an urban clinic were enrolled in our study between 1998 and 2001. Follow-up was performed on enrollees' infants until the children were 2 years old. Research nurses collected data by ear examination, from interviews and questionnaires given to enrolled mothers, and otitis media episodes that were abstracted from medical records. Results. Sixty-three percent of infants had experienced an otitis media episode by 6 months of age. Logistic regression analyses showed that maternal otitis media history, infant history of upper respiratory infection, and compliance with study visits were significantly related to early otitis media onset. Although high percentages of infants were exposed to cigarette smoke and other children and were formula fed, these factors were not related to otitis media. Mothers' prenatal awareness of otitis media risks associated with environmental tobacco smoke exposure and formula feeding did not predict their postpartum behaviors. Conclusions. We found that infant history of upper respiratory infection and maternal otitis media history are risk factors for early otitis media in American Indian infants. Mothers' prepartum knowledge and attitudes regarding otitis media did not predict their postpartum avoidance of risk behaviors. (Am J Public Health. 2007;97:317-322. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2004.052837)

Objectives. We examined the correlates of having ever had sexual intercourse among American Indians aged 13 to 18 years in Minnesota. Methods. To assess key environmental, social, and individual correlates of sexual experience, we analyzed data from 4135 American Indian youths who participated in the 1998 and 2001 Minnesota Student Surveys. Results. Forty-two percent of those aged 13 to 15 years and 69% of those aged 16 to 18 years reported that they had ever had sexual intercourse. Correlates of sexual experience varied by age and gender. School connections had the strongest negative associations with sexual experience in young girls, and living with a father had negative associations with sexual experience for younger, but not older, youths. Sexual experience was most strongly and positively associated with risk behaviors such as substance use, violence exposure, and violence perpetuation. Conclusions. The strongest correlates of sexual experience for American Indian youths were high-risk behaviors and exposure to violence. Future work is needed to develop and employ measures that reflect youth assets and that specifically reflect the experiences of American Indian youths.

The purpose of this study was to identify patterns of tobacco initiation, current use, and smoking cessation and their correlates in the adult American Indian population in the Twin Cities, using community-based participatory research methods. A total of 300 American Indians aged 18 years or older participated in in-person interviews. Participants were recruited to fill age-gender quotas that reflect the demographic distribution of American Indians in Minnesota. Almost everyone in this sample had smoked cigarettes recreationally: Only 12% had smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes, and nearly two-thirds (62%) reported that they were current smokers. Only 29% of ever-smokers had quit smoking. More than two-thirds (68%) of current smokers would like to quit, and most of them (53% of all smokers) had tried unsuccessfully to quit in the previous 12 months. Our results show a level of current smoking and low cessation rates among American Indians in the Twin Cities area that reflect a crisis for public health and for the Indian community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reported prevalence of cigarette smoking among American Indian youth is higher than other racial/ethnic minorities, and limited data indicate that this disparity is especially pronounced in the Upper Midwest of the U.S. The purposes of this study are to measure traditional and recreational tobacco use among American Indian youth in an urban Upper Midwest area, and to identify social and environmental factors associated with recreational tobacco use (cigarette smoking). Methods: A cross-sectional convenience sample of 336 American Indian youth aged 11–18 years was given a self-administered survey. Data were analyzed using bivariate chi-square tests and multivariate logistical stepwise regression. Results: Almost 37% reported some recreational smoking in the previous 30 days, with about three times as many in the group aged 16–18 years reporting smoking as in the group aged 11–13 years (p<0.0001). Social exposure to cigarette smoking was very strong; more than three fourths reported living with an adult who smokes, and 44% have a brother/a sister who smokes. Yet more than 65% report a household rule against their smoking, and 43% report a household rule against anyone smoking inside. Youth who smoke report buying cigarettes often and smoking on school property. Household rules against smoking and hearing of someone getting caught smoking at school have an independent negative association with likelihood of being a smoker. Conclusions: These results indicate that American Indian youth in this area report high use of recreational tobacco, and the statewide focus on youth smoking prevention has not eliminated the disparity in smoking levels between American Indian youth and Minnesota youth overall. These findings suggest several pathways to reduce cigarette smoking among urban American Indian youth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]