SAMINOR 1

The numbers of participants referred to here are those who answered at least one questionnaire and/or took part in the clinical examination and who did not refuse consent for the use of their data in medical research.

Implementation of the Survey

When the survey began in Nesseby, a two-page questionnaire (Questionnaire 0) compiled by the CSHR was sent to selected age groups, with an invitation letter and an information brochure. Those invited could choose between only the questionnaire or the questionnaire and the clinical examination. The completed questionnaires were returned to the Department of Community Medicine at the University of Tromsø.

Those who wished to participate in the clinical examination subsequently received an invitation indicating the time and place. The invitation was sent out with a three-page questionnaire from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (also in Sami). Completed questionnaires were handed to staff at the appointment for the clinical examination. The examinations took place in two health buses parked at one or more places in the municipality.

After the clinical part of the health survey, participants were asked to complete a four-page supplementary questionnaire (also in Sami and English) from the CSHR and return this to the University of Tromsø.

The study design was changed after the participation of four municipalities in Finnmark: Nesseby, Tana, Karasjok and Kautokeino. The reason for this was low attendance in the clinical examination. In the municipalities which followed, all participants were invited directly to attend a clinical examination. The first two-page questionnaire from the CSHR (the so-called Questionnaire 0) was added to the clinical questionnaire from the Institute of Public Health; participants therefore received a five-page questionnaire (also available in Sami and later translated into English), which they handed in at the clinical examination.

Reminders:

• In the first four municipalities, reminders (in Norwegian and Northern Sami) were sent to those who had not completed Questionnaire 0, in order to increase the response rate before invitations to the clinical examination were sent out.
• In Finnmark and Troms, there was a second round, where the health buses returned to the municipalities after 2-3 months. Those who did not attend in the first round received a reminder with a new appointment in the second round.  
• In Nordland, Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag, there was no second round.
• A reminder was sent to all participants who did not return the supplementary questionnaires handed out after the clinical examination.
• In the first four municipalities (Nesseby, Tana, Karasjok and Kautokeino), attendance was so low after the first round that it was decided to invite all participants to attend a clinical examination in the second round, irrespective of whether or not they had completed Questionnaire 0. This meant that many participants were examined without ever having responded to Questionnaire 0. Therefore, in 2006, those who had not responded were contacted again and data on their language and ethnicity was obtained. 

Data controller

UiT The Arctic University of Norway is Data Controller