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Different Outcomes for Different Health Measures in Immigrants: Evidence from a Longitudinal Analysis of the National Population Health Survey (1994–2006)

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Abstract

The response of immigrants to new societies is dynamic. There may be an initial period of happiness followed by peaks of stressful periods. These reactions along with socio-economic changes are likely to influence their health, which may start converging towards the average health of the host population. We used a longitudinal analysis to assess the differences in health outcomes (mental health and self-rated health), separately in men and women, in Canadian born and immigrants over a 12-year period (and the associated socio-economic factors). We used random effects logistic regression models for evaluation of these health outcomes in 3,081 men and 4,187 women from the National Population Health Survey (1994/95 to 2006/07). After adjusting for all the covariates, non-white immigrants were less likely to have severe psychological distress compared with the Canadian born individuals [odds ratio (OR) Men: 0.49, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.24–1.00, Women-OR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.32–0.92]. Immigrant women (white and non-white) were more likely to rate their health as poor through this 12-year period than the Canadian born women (White-OR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.17–2.64; Non-white-OR: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.01–3.28). Immigrants in the lowest income adequacy category reported higher psychological distress and poorer health than those in the highest income categories. We did not find any significant differences in the mental health and self-rated health of Canadian men and white male immigrants throughout this 12-year period. Though, non-white immigrant women were less likely to have severe psychological distress through this 12 year period, they were the ones most likely to rate their health as poor.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Abby Lippman for comments on the manuscript. The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP 77800 PI AQV). MSS is funded by CIHR-IHSPR Fellowship and CIHR-RRSPQ Public Health Training Programme for his doctoral studies at McGill University. Additional funding was provided by the QICSS Matching Grant 2007.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 1A2, Canada

    Maninder Singh Setia, Amelie Quesnel-Vallee, Michal Abrahamowicz & Pierre Tousignant

  2. Department of Sociology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Amelie Quesnel-Vallee

  3. Sansom Institute, Division of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia

    John Lynch

  4. Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    John Lynch

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  1. Maninder Singh Setia
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  2. Amelie Quesnel-Vallee
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  4. Pierre Tousignant
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  5. John Lynch
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Correspondence to Maninder Singh Setia.

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Setia, M.S., Quesnel-Vallee, A., Abrahamowicz, M. et al. Different Outcomes for Different Health Measures in Immigrants: Evidence from a Longitudinal Analysis of the National Population Health Survey (1994–2006). J Immigrant Minority Health 14, 156–165 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-010-9408-7

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