Health status and risk factors of seminomadic pastoralists in Mongolia: a geographical approach.

The particular lifestyle of nomadic or seminomadic people has much to do with their health status. This discussion of the conceptual basis and some preliminary results of the 1992-94 health status and risk factor survey in Mongolia serves to highlight some of the relationships existing between the general health status and potential risk factors observed among pastoral nomads. In addition to graphic description of the data, a statistical analysis suggests significant associations between certain health status indicators and gender, location, lifestyle factors (e.g. smoking) socio-economic status, preventive health care and the physical environment. With regard to locational factors, there are strong regional differences in a wide-ranging number of health status indicators. The results of this study, obtained as they were at the threshold of Mongolia's economic and political transformation, will serve as a baseline against which to evaluate future changes in the health of Mongolians.