Migrant health in French Guiana: Are undocumented immigrants more vulnerable?

Abstract

BackgroundFew data exist on the health status of the immigrant population in French Guiana. The main objective of this article was to identify differences in its health status in relation to that of the native-born population.MethodsA representative, population-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2009 among 1027 adults living in Cayenne and St-Laurent du Maroni. Health status was assessed in terms of self-perceived health, chronic diseases and functional limitations. The migration variables were immigration status, the duration of residence in French Guiana and the country of birth. Logistic regression models were conducted.ResultsImmigrants account for 40.5% and 57.8% of the adult population of Cayenne and St-Laurent du Maroni, respectively. Most of them (60.7% and 77.5%, respectively) had been living in French Guiana for more than 10 years. A large proportion were still undocumented or had a precarious legal status. The undocumented immigrants reported the worst health status (OR = 3.18 [1.21-7.84] for self-perceived health, OR = 2.79 [1.22-6.34] for a chronic disease, and OR = 2.17 [1.00-4.70] for a functional limitation). These differences are partially explained by socioeconomic status and psychosocial factors. The country of birth and the duration of residence also had an impact on health indicators.ConclusionData on immigrant health are scarce in France, and more generally, immigrant health problems have been largely ignored in public health policies. Immigrant health status is of crucial interest to health policy planners, and it is especially relevant in French Guiana, considering the size of the foreign-born population in that region.

What are the living conditions and health status of those who don’t report their migration status? a population-based study in Chile

“…In addition the characteristics of the MS-MV identified in this analysis, including young age, low socio-economic status and poor health are compatible with previous research describing undocumented immigrants. International evidence has suggested that those that do not report their migration status may be commonly undocumented immigrants [11,28,29] and under-estimation of immigrants in national representative surveys has been frequently reported in the past [1,3,30,31,48]. It is also notable that when the immigrants and the missing values are added together, they account for 1.63% of the total Chilean population, which is very similar to the prevalence of immigrants in the Chilean population recently reported by the Chilean government (1.6-1.8%) [15,35].…”

“…They also report lack of access and limited use of health care [9]. Relatively little is known however about undocumented migrants worldwide [10,11], including those in the Latin American region [12-14]. Further research regarding migrants is urgently required to improve the living conditions and health of these populations, and especially those living in socioeconomic vulnerability, such as undocumented immigrants.…”

“…There is no information in the CASEN survey data or administrative records to indicate whether the migration question missing values respondents or those who did report being international immigrants are undocumented immigrants. Nonetheless, international evidence has suggested that those that prefer not to report their migration status are commonly undocumented immigrants in fear of future prosecution [11,28,29] and under-estimation of immigrants in national representative surveys has been frequently reported in the past [1,30,31]. This group has not been explored in Chile previously and, therefore, this study focuses on the demographic, socioeconomic, material living conditions, and health status of those who preferred not to report their migration status; and how these patterns compare to those who reported being international immigrants.…”

How Migrant Status Affects Health beyond Socioeconomic Status: Evidence from Austria

“…The issue of health and migration has up to now been examined primarily within the context of special topics such as the vulnerability of undocumented migrants (Jolivet et al. ), the health of migrant children (Hjern and Bouvier ), migrant women in reproductive age (Iglesias et al. ), elderly migrants (Reijneveld, Westhoff, and Hopman‐Rock ), depression and generalized anxiety of migrant groups in comparison with the native population (Levecque, Lodewyckx, and Vranken ), stress and mental ill health of migrants (Tinghög ), or migrants in retirement age (Pudaric, Sundquist, and Johansson ).…”

Testing the Latino paradox in Latin America: A population-based study of Intra-regional immigrants in Chile

“…However, some authors have questioned the existence of healthy migrant effects and conflicting results have been found in some studies 8,18 . Much less has been studied regarding the healthy migrant effect within Latin America 8,19 , despite the growing intra-regional mobility of people in this region 20 . This study describes the first large-scale quantitative analysis of the health of immigrants to Chile, most of them from other Latin American countries.…”