Stress under modernization in indigenous populations of Siberia

Arterial blood pressure and serum blood glucose concentration, and the level of anxiety, as determined by the Spielberger test, as physical and psychological markers of stress under "modernization", were studied in groups of native Siberians: the Khanty and the Mansi.

The fraction of respondents with a high level of anxiety is 64% of the total sample. The average values of systolic and diastolic blood pressure are higher among natives living in large than in small "national" settlements (p<0.05). The arterial blood pressure of town dwellers is even higher. The same patterns are seen in the blood serum glucose concentrations in female samples. The average arterial blood pressure (in males and females) and the blood serum glucose concentration (in females) increases as people diverge from "traditional" lifestyles.

The results demonstrate that "modernization" and urbanization have a serious stressing influence on the aborigines of North Siberia.