Southern Lapland Research Department, Vilhelmina, Sweden.
Glob Health Action. 2011;4. doi: 10.3402/gha.v4i0.8457. Epub 2011 Oct 14.
The Sami are the indigenous ethnic population of northern Scandinavia. Their health condition is poorly known, although the knowledge has improved over the last decade.
The aim was to review the current information on mortality, diseases, and risk factor exposure in the Swedish Sami population.
Health-related research on Sami cohorts published in scientific journals and anthologies was used to compare the health condition among the Sami and the majority non-Sami population. When relevant, data from the Sami populations in Swedish were compared with corresponding data from Norwegian and Finnish Sami populations.
Life expectancy and mortality patterns of the Sami are similar to those of the majority population. Small differences in incidences of cancer and cardiovascular diseases have been reported. The traditional Sami lifestyle seems to contain elements that reduce the risk to develop cancer and cardiovascular diseases, e.g. physical activity, diet rich in antioxidants and unsaturated fatty acids, and a strong cultural identity. Reindeer herding is an important cultural activity among the Sami and is associated with high risks for accidents. Pain in the lower back, neck, shoulders, elbows, and hands are frequent among both men and women in reindeer-herding families. For men, these symptoms are related to high exposure to terrain vehicles, particularly snowmobile, whereas for women psychosocial risk factors seem to more important, e.g. poor social support, high effort, low reward, and high economical responsibilities.
Although the health condition of the Sami population appears to be rather similar to that of the general Swedish population, a number of specific health problems have been identified, especially among the reindeer-herding Sami. Most of these problems have their origin in marginalization and poor knowledge of the reindeer husbandry and the Sami culture in the majority population. It is suggested that the most sustainable measure to improve the health among the reindeer-herding Sami would be to improve the conditions of the reindeer husbandry and the Sami culture.
萨米人是北欧斯堪的纳维亚地区的原住民。尽管在过去十年中，人们对他们的健康状况有了更多的了解，但仍知之甚少。
综述瑞典萨米人群的死亡率、疾病和危险因素暴露情况。
利用发表在科学期刊和专论中的萨米人队列健康相关研究，来比较萨米人和非萨米人主要人群的健康状况。当相关时，来自瑞典萨米人群的数据与挪威和芬兰萨米人群的相应数据进行了比较。
萨米人的预期寿命和死亡率模式与大多数人群相似。据报道，癌症和心血管疾病的发病率存在微小差异。传统的萨米生活方式似乎包含一些降低患癌症和心血管疾病风险的因素，例如身体活动、富含抗氧化剂和不饱和脂肪酸的饮食以及强烈的文化认同感。驯鹿养殖是萨米人的一项重要文化活动，与事故风险高有关。在从事驯鹿养殖的家庭中，男性和女性都经常出现下背部、颈部、肩部、肘部和手部疼痛。对于男性来说，这些症状与他们大量接触地形车辆，尤其是雪地摩托有关，而对于女性来说，社会心理危险因素似乎更为重要，例如社会支持不足、高付出、低回报和高经济责任。
尽管萨米人群的健康状况似乎与瑞典一般人群相当，但仍发现了一些特定的健康问题，尤其是在从事驯鹿养殖的萨米人群中。这些问题大多源于边缘化和对驯鹿养殖和萨米文化的了解不足。改善从事驯鹿养殖的萨米人健康状况的最可持续措施是改善驯鹿养殖和萨米文化的条件。
