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SAMINOR 1

The first survey of the Population-based Study on Health and Living Conditions in Regions with Sami and Norwegian Populations

The SAMINOR 1 Survey was conducted in 2003–2004 in collaboration between the Centre for Sami Health Research (CSHR) and the National Health Screening Service, which was later incorporated into the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH). SAMINOR 1 was conducted in parallel with a regional health survey (TROFINN) organised by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

Municipalities Invited to Participate:

Finnmark:

Karasjok, Kautokeino, Porsanger, Tana, Nesseby, Lebesby, Alta, Loppa and Kvalsund.

Troms:

Kåfjord, Kvænangen, Storfjord, Lyngen, Skånland and Lavangen

Nordland:

Tysfjord, Evenes, Hattfjelldal (Hattfjelldal district), Grane (Majavatn district), Narvik (Vassdalen district)

Nord-Trøndelag:

Røyrvik and parts of Namsskogan (Trones and Furuly) and Snåsa (Vinje)

Sør-Trøndelag:

Parts of Røros Municipality (Brekken) in Sør-Trøndelag.

Apart from Alta, all municipalities had fewer than 3000 inhabitants.

Participation

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.

	Men			Women			Total
Age	No. invited	No. of participants	%	No. invited	No. of participants	%	No. invited	No. of participants	%
30	427	125	29.3	409	202	49.4	836	327	39.1
36-39	1646	710	43.1	1546	870	56.3	3192	1580	49.5
40-44	1948	971	49.8	1788	1158	64.8	3736	2129	57.0
45-49	1997	1124	56.3	1823	1207	66.2	3820	2331	31.0
50-54	2135	1259	59.0	1809	1305	72.1	3944	2564	65.0
55-59	2073	1274	61.5	1722	1225	71.1	3795	2499	65.8
60-64	1484	957	64.5	1311	946	72.2	2795	1903	68.1
65-69	1158	747	64.5	1177	792	67.3	2335	1539	65.9
70-74	1026	589	57.4	1058	654	61.8	2084	1243	59.6
75-79	647	354	54.7	803	396	49.3	1450	750	51.7
Total	14541	8110	55.8	13446	8,755	65.1	27987	16865	60.3

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