Natural Health Product Use for Health Maintenance Among Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Students in Canada

The purpose of this research is to investigate if there are differences in the proportion of Aboriginal students who use Natural Health Products (NHP) for health maintenance as compared to students of other ethnicities (e.g., Asian, White, Hispanic, Black, etc.).  A convenience sample was drawn from students (n=963) enrolled at either First Nations University of Canada or the University of Regina, both in Regina, SK, Canada.  Participants included Aboriginal (n=212) and non-Aboriginal students (n=751), for a cross-sectional survey.  The study was conducted during Fall semester 2011.  A Natural Health Product & Botanical Use survey was administered to students to evaluate their use of NHP and/or botanicals for health maintenance.  Non-students were excluded.  A χ² analysis was conducted to determine whether there was a significant difference between Aboriginal students and students of other ethnicities in their use of NHP for health maintenance.  Results indicate that of those surveyed, 42.5% of Aboriginal students use NHP for health maintenance, whereas 57.5% of mainstream students use NHP for health maintenance.  However, this difference was not statistically significant, χ² (1) = 3.239, P > 0.05.  Thus, in considering the proportion of Aboriginal and mainstream students who use NHP for health maintenance, there is not a significant difference.  This suggests that in this era, ethnicity of a student may not be a significant factor in NHP use for health maintenance.