Search

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived health status, health behaviors, family values and relationships of a select group of Nepalese in the US. Nepalese are a small minority group most often categorized in the U.S. under the Asian and Pacific Islanders cluster. A modified BRFSS (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System) survey was used to facilitate comparison with U.S. national data. One hundred and ten people attending an annual Nepalese convention completed the survey. Results indicated that although smoking behavior of Nepalese was similar to that of Americans, cancer screening and exercise behaviors varied significantly. Several methodological issues with regard to data collection were encountered. Most notably, the respondents skipped many BRFSS questions. This raises some significant questions about the representation of Nepalese Americans and other Asian and Pacific Islander groups in the national BRFSS data. Under-representation of Nepalese may be masking significant health problems among members of this so-called "model minority", and in effect limiting their representation in the national health care agenda. Different and varied methodologies need to be employed to better understand the health care needs of this and other Asian and Pacific Islander groups. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if a latent variable approach might be useful in identifying shared variance across genetic risk alleles that is associated with antisocial behaviour at age 15 years. Methods: Using a conventional latent variable approach, we derived an antisocial phenotype in 328 adolescents utilizing data from a 15-year follow-up of a randomized trial of a prenatal and infancy nurse-home visitation programme in Elmira, New York. We then investigated, via a novel latent variable approach, 450 informative genetic polymorphisms in 71 genes previously associated with antisocial behaviour, drug use, affiliative behaviours and stress response in 241 consenting individuals for whom DNA was available. Haplotype and Pathway analyses were also performed. Results: Eight single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from eight genes contributed to the latent genetic variable that in turn accounted for 16.0% of the variance within the latent antisocial phenotype. The number of risk alleles was linearly related to the latent antisocial variable scores. Haplotypes that included the putative risk alleles for all eight genes were also associated with higher latent antisocial variable scores. In addition, 33 SNPs from 63 of the remaining genes were also significant when added to the final model. Many of these genes interact on a molecular level, forming molecular networks. The results support a role for genes related to dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, glutamate, opioid and cholinergic signalling as well as stress response pathways in mediating susceptibility to antisocial behaviour. Conclusions: This preliminary study supports use of relevant behavioural indicators and latent variable approaches to study the potential "co-action" of gene variants associated with antisocial behaviour. It also underscores the cumulative relevance of common genetic variants for understanding the aetiology of complex behaviour. If replicated in future studies, this approach may allow the identification of a "shared" variance across genetic risk alleles associated with complex neuropsychiatric dimensional phenotypes using relatively small numbers of well-characterized research participants.