Griffin-Pierce Trudy, Silverberg Nina, Connor Donald, Jim Minnie, Peters Jill, Kaszniak Alfred, Sabbagh Marwan N
Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Alzheimers Dement. 2008 Jul;4(4):291-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2007.10.012. Epub 2007 Dec 21.
Little is known about Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related neurodegenerative diseases in American Indian (AI) populations. To provide appropriate health care to elder AIs, whose population is expected to increase dramatically during the next 50 years, it is imperative to attain a better understanding of the interaction of culture and disease in this underserved population. Raising awareness in the AI population regarding the nature of dementia as it compares to normal aging and the development of culturally appropriate instruments to detect and stage AD are essential for future health care efforts. Barriers restricting clinical service to this population include historical factors relating to access to health care, cultural beliefs regarding aging, demographic diversity of the population, competing epidemiologic risk factors, and lack of proper assessment tools for clinicians.
对于美国印第安人群体中的阿尔茨海默病（AD）及相关神经退行性疾病，我们知之甚少。为了向老年美国印第安人提供适当的医疗保健服务（预计在未来50年该群体数量将大幅增加），必须更好地了解这个医疗服务不足群体中文化与疾病的相互作用。提高美国印第安人群体对痴呆症本质（与正常衰老相比较）的认识，以及开发适合文化背景的工具来检测和划分AD阶段，对于未来的医疗保健工作至关重要。限制为该群体提供临床服务的障碍包括与获得医疗保健相关的历史因素、关于衰老的文化信仰、该群体的人口统计学多样性、相互竞争的流行病学风险因素以及临床医生缺乏合适的评估工具。
