Research report, study and analysis

Anemia is often due to iron deficiency which is caused by insufficient dietary intake or poor absorption of iron to replace losses. Iron deficiency anemia has a negative impact on physical work capacity, cognitive performance and resistance to infection. The World Health Organization recognizes anemia as a widespread public health problem having major consequences on health as well as on social and economical development. The prevalence of anemia in Aboriginal children in Canada is eight…

The activities of hunting, fishing and collection of resources from the land and sea are of central importance to the health of Inuit in Nunavik. For approximately twenty years now, confidence in these resources and Inuit access to them have been threatened by reports of environmental contaminants in wildlife, social and economic trends influencing the time available to hunt and fish, and more recently, reports of climate change and variability and influences on the availability and…

In Nunavik, common practices such as the consumption of untreated water and raw game may promote exposure to pathogenic agents responsible for zoonoses, infections that may be transmitted from animals to humans, as well as for food-borne and water-borne infections. As part of the 2004 Nunavik Inuit Health Survey, information was gathered to depict the supply of drinking water and to determine the prevalence of certain infections among the Inuit population, including gastroenteritis.

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The Inuit of Nunavik are exposed to metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that are carried from southern to northern latitudes by oceanic and atmospheric transport and biomagnified in Arctic food webs. As the Inuit traditional diet comprises large amounts of tissues from marine mammals, fish and terrestrial wild game, the Inuit are more exposed to these contaminants than populations living in southern regions. The traditional suite of legacy POPs comprises polychlorinated dibenzo p…

Alcohol and drug use

The Nunavik Inuit Health Survey, conducted throughout the 14 communities of Nunavik in autumn 2004, provides an update of the alcohol and drug use descriptive profile of the population aged 15 and over and identifies the sociodemographic characteristics associated with substance use.

In Nunavik in 2004, the proportion of drinkers was 77%, which is lower than the rate observed in Canada and in Quebec. This rate, however, represents an…

The Nunavik territory is a remote area characterized by a high proportion of young people and with different housing arrangements than the rest of Quebec. The Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004 revealed that forty percent of Inuit are under the age of 15. The average size of Nunavik households is 4.7 persons, which is almost double that of the rest of Quebec. Most Inuit are living in households with other family members because of a high birth rate and a shortage of residences, and very few…

Hearing loss

Hearing problems are widespread in Nunavik with one quarter of adults having hearing loss in both ears. Men have three times more hearing loss than women (36% vs. 12%) and these problems are found to increase with age; more than half the adults over age 45 suffer from a hearing loss in both ears. Prevalence of hearing disability (as defined by World Health Organization) was 7.6% in Nunavik in 2004, which is one of the highest of the regions of the world…

A respiratory health survey on a representative sample (1023) of Inuit children aged 0 to 14 was undertaken for the first time in Nunavik in 2004. The data on respiratory symptoms and asthma were obtained from a household respondent, usually a parent, by means of the standardized ISAAC questionnaire (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood). Other questions were also asked about various home and environmental variables.

Results indicate that the prevalence of…

The problem of the prevention of diseases attributable to the human papilloma virus (virus du papillome humain) (HPV) extends beyond the field of infectious diseases traditionally prevented by vaccination. This is why the CIQ has followed a different procedure for the preparation of this report by working with a large group of experts, notably from gynaecologists involved with the fight against cancer and from sexually transmitted infectious diseases areas.

The synthesis of facts was…

In this thematic pamphlet, we present some results of a study entitled Accessibilité et continuité des services de santé - Une étude sur la première ligne au Québec, conducted in 2005 among more than 9000 people in Montréal and Montérégie. Our goal is to provide information concerning unmet health care needs and to analyse the initial implications.

The concept of unmet needs refers to the difference between health services deemed necessary to treat a particular health problem and…