摘要：Objectives. We provided contextual risk factor information for a special supplement on causes of death among American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs). We analyzed 11 years of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data for AI/AN respondents in the United States. Methods. We combined BRFSS data from 2000 to 2010 to determine the prevalence of selected risk factors for AI/AN and White respondents residing in Indian Health Service Contract Health Service Delivery Area counties. Regional prevalence estimates for AI/AN respondents were compared with the estimates for White respondents for all regions combined; respondents of Hispanic origin were excluded. Results. With some regional exceptions, AI/AN people had high prevalence estimates of tobacco use, obesity, and physical inactivity, and low prevalence estimates of fruit and vegetable consumption, cancer screening, and seatbelt use. Conclusions. These behavioral risk factors were consistent with observed patterns of mortality and chronic disease among AI/AN persons. All are amenable to public health intervention. American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) experience a disproportionate burden from a variety of diseases that may be linked to risk behaviors such as tobacco use, diet, and physical inactivity. 1 Although several AI/AN communities conducted local surveys of the prevalence of such risk factors, 2–4 composite data at the national or regional level depends on population-based surveys, such as the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which is conducted annually by state health departments in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There were 2 previous reports of personal risk factors among AI/AN people that used similar methods: 1 that summarized BRFSS data by region for 1997 to 2000, 5 and 1 that focused on cancer risk factors for 2000 to 2006. 6 BRFSS data for AI/AN persons were also reported in various Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports from the CDC, 7,8 and other publications. 9 None of these previous publications restricted the study population to the Indian Health Service (IHS) Contract Health Service Delivery Area (CHSDA) as we did in this study. Because the prevalence of these behaviors might be changing, and some, such as obesity and tobacco use, have significant effects on the health of this population, we updated and refined the estimates using more recent data, and included some survey questions not previously reported for AI/ANs. We supply demographic characteristics and health risk data to inform and provide context for the disease-specific mortality articles in this special supplement. Although our primary objective was not to compare risk factors directly with any other racial or ethnic group, we included risk behavior data for the US White population for readers who wish to compare such risk factors.
