Embodiment of discrimination: a cross-sectional study of threats, humiliating treatment and ethnic discrimination in relation to somatic health complaints among Sámi in Sweden

Background Ethnic discrimination is acknowledged as a social determinant of health for Indigenous populations worldwide. This study aimed to investigate embodiment of perceived ethnic discrimination among the Sami population in Sweden.Methods A population-based health study was conducted among the Sami population aged 18-84 years in 2021. Perceived discrimination was assessed by three variables: exposure to threat, humiliation treatment and ethnic discrimination. To capture current physical health, complaints of headache, back pain, stomach pain, sleeping problems, dizziness and tiredness were used. An overall somatic complaints score was created by summing up the six individual symptoms. The magnitude of the association between the independent variables and the outcomes was summarised with the beta coefficients and prevalence ratios using 95% credible intervals (95% CrI) for inferential purposes.Results Overall, 4.3% reported to have been exposed to threat, 26.1% to humiliation and 11.2% and 32.3% to ethnic discrimination in the last 12 months and beyond 12 months, respectively. After mutual adjustment, threat (beta=1.25; 95% CrI=0.88 to 1.60), humiliation (beta=1.29; 95% CrI: 1.14 to 1.44) and the two categories of discrimination (beta=0.92; 95% CI: 0.64 to 1.21 in the last 12 months and beta=0.68; 95% CI: 0.54 to 0.83 beyond) remained significantly associated to the overall somatic complaints score. Similar results were found for individual complaints.Conclusions This study has shown a strong relationship between different expressions of perceived ethnic discrimination and a series of somatic complaints among the Sami in Sweden. Efforts to alleviate interpersonal and institutional discrimination against the Sami would contribute to improve their health.