Interpersonal Violence Against Indigenous Sámi and Non-Sámi Populations in Arctic Sweden and the Mediating Effect of Historical Losses and Discrimination.

The prevalence of interpersonal violence has been reported at higher levels among Indigenous than non-Indigenous populations worldwide, but has not been thoroughly investigated among the Sámi population in Sweden. The aims of this study were to investigate: (1) the prevalence of emotional, physical, and sexual violence and violence by intimate partners, family members, acquaintances, and strangers among participants identifying as Sámi or Swedish, (2) whether reporting experiences of historical losses and discrimination mediated the anticipated association between identifying as Sámi and reporting experiences of violence, and (3) whether background characteristics were associated with reporting experiences of violence. Cross-sectional questionnaire data collected in 2021 for the "Health and Living conditions in Sápmi" study were used. All adults in an arctic region in Sweden were invited to participate (response rate: 41%). Respondents self-identifying as Sámi (n = 375; 24.7%) or Swedish (n = 1,144; 75.3%) were included in this study. Sámi respondents of both sexes more often reported violence by an acquaintance or stranger. Likewise, more Sámi than Swedish women reported family violence (16.4% vs. 9.2%), but there was no difference concerning intimate partner violence (13.3% vs. 15.4%). Mediation analyses revealed strong positive indirect effects of historical losses and discrimination on the different types of violence. Being female was the strongest predictor of reporting intimate partner violence, and younger age was associated with violence by all perpetrators except family members. In conclusion, interpersonal violence was more often reported by Sámi respondents, but the association was explained in full by experiences of historical losses and discrimination. The results underline the importance of a life-course and even intergenerational and historical perspectives when investigating interpersonal violence.

Social determinants of self-reported oral health among Sámi in Sweden.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of poor self-reported oral health and to identify socio-demographic, socio-economic and cultural-related risk factors associated with poor oral health among Sámi in Sweden. METHODS: A Sámi sample frame was constructed drawing from three pre-existing registers. All identified persons aged 18-84 were invited to participate in the study during February-May 2021. Among the 9249 invitations, 3779 answered the survey. The frequencies of the independent variables in terms of socio-economic, socio-demographic and cultural-related factors as well as the outcome, self-reported oral health, were calculated first. Prevalence ratios (PRs) and their 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were estimated to assess the relationship between the independent variables and the outcome. RESULTS: Overall, 32.5% of the participants reported a poor oral health with a higher prevalence among men compared to women. Among the socio-demographic factors, being old (PR: 1.99; 95% CI: 1.59-2.51), unmarried (PR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.03-1.33) and divorced or widow-er (PR: 1.27; 95% CI: 1.09-1.46) were statistically associated to poor self-reported oral health. Among the socio-economic factors, a low education level (PR: 1.56; 95% CI: 1.29-1.89), belonging to the poorest quintile (PR: 1.63; 95% CI: 1.35-1.96), and experiencing difficulties to make ends meet several times during the last 12 months (PR: 1.74; 95% CI: 1.51-1.99) were statistically significant related to poor oral health. CONCLUSIONS: The self-reported oral health among Sámi in Sweden appears to be worse than that of the general Swedish population. Several socio-economic and socio-demographic factors were found to be strongly associated with poor self-reported oral health. Targeted interventions addressing these social determinants are needed to reduce inequalities in oral health among the Sámi population.

Somatic health in the Indigenous Sami population - a systematic review.

The objective of this systematic review was to survey the current scientific knowledge regarding the state of somatic health among situation of the Indigenous Sami people in Norway, Finland, Sweden and the Kola Peninsula in Russia; and assess the quality of the identified studies. A systematic search in the databases Pubmed, EBSCOhost (AMED, Medline, Cinahl) and Svemed was conducted from January 2000, through December 2017. This systematic search identified 399 articles. After screening abstracts, 93 articles were reviewed in full text, 32 of which met the inclusion criteria. The scientific quality of the evidence was rated according to the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Based on the studies with moderate to high scientific quality, there is evidence for stating that the majority of the Sami included in this review experience good health. Mortality and life expectancy are similar, with only minor differences, to those of a non-Sami population. The cancer risk rate among Sami was lower than that of the general population of Norway, Sweden and Finland. Self-reported myocardial infarction prevalence was similar between Sami and non-Sami, but Angina pectoris was more prevalent among Sami. In Sweden, cardiovascular disease rates were similar between Sami and non-Sami. Musculoskeletal pain symptoms are common among the Sami population, as are obesity and overweight. To conclude, there are knowledge gaps in regard to the somatic health situation of the Indigenous Sami in the circumpolar area, especially in Russia, Finland and Sweden; as current knowledge is mainly based on publications from the SAMINOR study in Norway. No study obtained the highest quality score, suggesting a need to implement longitudinal prospective studies.

Patients' experiences of supervised jaw-neck exercise among patients with localized TMD pain or TMD pain associated with generalized pain.

Objective: To evaluate temporomandibular disorder (TMD) patients' experiences of a supervised jaw-neck exercise programme. Materials and methods: The study used a mixed method design. All patients were diagnosed with myalgia according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD and divided into local myalgia (n = 50; 38 women, mean age 43 yrs, SD 14), and myalgia with generalized pain (n = 28; 27 women, mean age 43 yrs, SD 13). Patients participated in a ten-session supervised exercise programme that included relaxation, coordination and resistance training of the jaw, neck and shoulders. After the 10 sessions an evaluation form was filled out including both open- and closed-ended questions. The quantitative analysis was based on closed-ended questions concerned experience, adaptation and side-effects from the exercise programme. The qualitative analysis was employing inductive content analysis of open-ended questions. Results: Patients reported similar positive overall experiences of exercise regardless of diagnosis, although more individuals in the general pain group experienced pain during training (57%) compared to the local pain group (26%; p = .015). Patients in both groups shared similar experiences and acknowledged the possibility to participate in an individualized and demanding exercise programme. They expressed feelings of being noticed, taken seriously and respectful care management to be key factors for successful treatment outcome. The exercise programme was acknowledged as a valuable part of treatment. Conclusion: The hypothesis generated was that individualized and gradually demanding exercise in the rehabilitation process of TMD stimulates self-efficacy and confidence in chronic TMD patients regardless of whether the pain was localized or combined with wide-spread pain.