Issues to Consider When Measuring and Applying Socioeconomic Position Quantitatively in Immigrant  Health Research

Nielsen, Sebastian R.; Hempler, Nana Folmann; Krasnik, Allan

doi:10.3390/ijerph10126354

Cited by 28 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Usually, increased morbidity and poorer self-perceived health as well as poorer socio-economic conditions are associated with increased mortality [54,58]. From this review, we can paradoxically conclude that non-Western immigrants in Denmark in general have more chronic diseases and report poorer health but live longer than ethnic Danes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Morbidity, Self-Perceived Health and Mortality Among non-Western Immigrants and Their Descendants in Denmark in a Life Phase Perspective

Jervelund

Malik

Ahlmark

et al. 2016

J Immigrant Minority Health

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To enable preventive policies to address health inequity across ethnic groups, this review overviews the current knowledge on morbidity, self-perceived health and mortality among non-Western immigrants and their descendants in Denmark. A systematic search in PUBMED, SCOPUS, Embase and Cochrane as well as in national databases was undertaken. The final number of publications included was 45. Adult immigrants had higher morbidity, but lower mortality compared to ethnic Danes. Immigrant children had higher mortality and morbidity compared to ethnic Danes. Immigrants' health is critical to reach the political goals of integration. Despite non-Western immigrants' higher morbidity than ethnic Danes, no national strategy targeting immigrants' health has been implemented. Future research should include elderly immigrants and children, preferably employing a life-course perspective to enhance understanding of parallel processes of societal adaptation and health.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Morbidity, Self-Perceived Health and Mortality Among non-Western Immigrants and Their Descendants in Denmark in a Life Phase Perspective

Jervelund

Malik

Ahlmark

et al. 2016

J Immigrant Minority Health

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“…Another strength is the sampling of sufficient numbers of children from immigrant households, over a considerable timeframe, permitting analyses across immigrant generations. A limitation of this work relates to the measurement of childhood SES, particularly for immigrant households 35. Parents’ schooling may contain different information about SES for an immigrant, compared with a US-born, household.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socioeconomic gradients in body mass index (BMI) in US immigrants during the transition to adulthood: examining the roles of parental education and intergenerational educational mobility

Albrecht

Gordon‐Larsen

2014

J Epidemiol Community Health

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Background Despite comparatively lower socioeconomic status (SES), immigrants tend to have lower body weight and weaker SES gradients relative to U.S.-born individuals. Yet, it is unknown how changes in SES over the life-course relate to body weight in immigrants versus US-born individuals. Methods We used longitudinal data from a nationally-representative, diverse sample of 13701 adolescents followed into adulthood to investigate whether associations between SES mobility categories (educational attainment reported by individuals as adults and by their parents during adolescence) and body mass index (BMI) measured in adulthood varied by immigrant generation. Weighted multivariable linear regression models were adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and immigrant generation. Results Among first generation immigrants, although parental education was not associated with adult BMI, an immigrant’s own education attainment was inversely associated with BMI (β=−2.6 kg/m2; standard error (SE)=0.9, p<0.01). In addition, upward educational mobility was associated with lower adult mean BMI than remaining low SES (β= −2.5 kg/m2; SE=1.2, p<0.05). In contrast, among U.S.-born respondents, college education in adulthood did not attenuate the negative association between parental education and adult BMI. Although an SES gradient emerged in adulthood for immigrants, remaining low SES from adolescence to adulthood was not associated with loss of health advantage relative to U.S.-born respondents of U.S.-born parents of similar SES. Conclusion Immigrants were able to translate higher SES in adulthood into a lower adult mean BMI regardless of childhood SES, whereas the consequences of lower childhood SES had a longer reach even among the upwardly mobile U.S.-born.

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“…Although the wealth of migrants tends to increase with the duration of stay in the host country, their health indicators often deteriorate 18. The flat social gradients in health identified in several studies18–21 also suggest that they may not reap the health gains expected from socioeconomic achievements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unravelling migrants’ health paradoxes: a transdisciplinary research agenda

Roura

2017

J Epidemiol Community Health

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The Social Determinants of Health literature has consistently found that a higher socioeconomic status is associated with better health outcomes even after adjusting for traditional risk factors. However, research findings in the field of Migrants' Health suggest that the socioeconomic/health gradient does not always behave for migrants and their descendants. The mismatch of findings in these two long-standing parallel research traditions is exemplified by frequent reports of paradoxical findings in the scientific literature: the healthy migrant paradox, the ethnic density paradox and the diminishing returns paradox. This paper outlines a transdisciplinary research agenda to elucidate the social processes that underpin these disconcerting findings and calls for a shift from a pathogenic deficit model that sees migrants as a burden to their reconceptualisation as actively engaged citizens in search of solutions. Amidst a severe refugee crisis, fears of terrorist attacks and political capitalisation of these tragedies to foster antimigrant sentiments, this is urgently needed.

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Issues to Consider When Measuring and Applying Socioeconomic Position Quantitatively in Immigrant Health Research

Cited by 28 publications

References 46 publications

Morbidity, Self-Perceived Health and Mortality Among non-Western Immigrants and Their Descendants in Denmark in a Life Phase Perspective

Morbidity, Self-Perceived Health and Mortality Among non-Western Immigrants and Their Descendants in Denmark in a Life Phase Perspective

Socioeconomic gradients in body mass index (BMI) in US immigrants during the transition to adulthood: examining the roles of parental education and intergenerational educational mobility

Unravelling migrants’ health paradoxes: a transdisciplinary research agenda

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