Risk factors for hospitalization and infection in Canadian Inuit infants over the first year of life--a pilot study.

Objectives. Inuit infants experience higher mortality and poorer health than other Canadian infants, and suffer disproportionately from bacterial and viral infections. A wide range of inter-related factors affect their health and susceptibility to infection. The objectice of the study was to describe hospitalization and morbidity patterns in a cohort of 46 healthy Inuit infants from Iqaluit, Nunavut, over their first year of life. Study design. Risk factors for hospitalization and infections were assessed using multiple linear regression. Results. Infants experienced an average of four respiratory tract infections (RTIs) annually, which accounted for half of the hospitalizations in the cohort. Some interesting trends were evident from the assessment of risk factors using multiple linear regression. Adoption was associated with adverse health effects in addition to those that would be expected due to lack of breastfeeding alone; among infants who were not breast-fed, adopted infants had three more RTIs per year than non-adopted infants. Conclusion. The results of this pilot study provide support for undertaking larger epidemiological studies in order to clarify the role of these risk factors, so that future preventive efforts can be informed and effective. (Int J Circumpolar Health 2004; 63(1):61-70) Keywords: Canada, epidemiology, infant, infection, Inuit, risk factors