Migration, Health Status and Utilization of Health Services

Abstract

Evidence concerning the relations of migration to health status and health care utilization is inconclusive. This paper outlines the theoretical positions on these relations and reviews the empirical findings supporting varying positions. The paper also presents the findings of a survey of a probability sample of the U.S. population concerning these issues. The analysis is organized around comparisons among immigrants from other societies, internal migrants, and nonmigrants on important dimensions of health status and the utilization of different types of health services. Comparisons were also made among first generation, second generation, and 'old stock.' Finally, immigrants were grouped by country and area of origin to assess the influence of cultural differences on health and the utilization of services. Attempts were made to control the influence of demographic characteristics while assessing the relations between migration and health status. The controlled analysis showed immigrants to enjoy better health conditions followed by migrants and then the nonmigrants. Significant differences in physical performance were manifested among immigrants from varying areas of origin, and also among generations of nativity. Controlling for both demographic characteristics and health status, immigrants were consistently the least utilizers of services and internal migrants the highest. An increase in utilization was associated with generational residence in the U.S. First generation were least utilizers, followed by second generation with the 'old stock' being the greatest utilizers. Immigrants from different countries and regions of the world also exhibited significant differences in the patterns of utilization of health services. The Research ProblemHealth is a revealing indicator of well-being and adjustment, and an important variable in migration research. The present large scale crossnational migration in Europe has attracted considerable public and

Health Service Utilization Among Immigrants to the United States

“…Third, the fact that the NIS was administered in the language of the respondent's choice helps to minimize bias from cultural misunderstandings that may arise with health questions. Another U.S. based study reported findings similar to the LeClere et al study (Nagi and Haavio-Mannila 1980), although their sample of immigrants was small (n = 428). The Nagi and Haavio-Mannila study also did not distinguish between legal statuses and the empirical work did not include multivariate analysis (1980).…”

“…Previous research also indicates that racial and ethnic minorities, and immigrants in particular, constitute underserved populations with respect to health care, making the focus of the current study uniquely important (Ku and Matani 2001;Nagi and Haavio-Mannila 1980;Waidmann and Rajan 2000;Weinick et al 2000). Although some prior studies have been able to consider the health care utilization of one ethnic or origin group, to this author's knowledge, this is the first to compare across groups using a large data set (Chavez et al 1985;Jenkins et al 1996;Kuo and Torres-Gil 2001;Ma 2004;Wong et al 2006;Xu et al 2001).…”

Psychosocial Aspects of Migration

“…Eski kuşak göçmenlerde ise sağlık hizmetlerinden yararlanma oranın en yüksek olduğu görülmüştür. [31] Amerika' da yaşayan ve Marshall Adalarından göçmüş göçmenlerle niteliksel olarak yürütülen başka bir çalışmada göçmenlerin sağlık hizmetine ulaşmada engellerle karşılaştıkları ve bu engellerin nedenlerinin etnik, kültürel ve ekonomik olduğu saptanmıştır. [32] Yirmidört yaşından daha genç olanların, bekarların, eğitim düzeyi ve sosyo-ekonomik durumu düşük olanların, aile ve sosyal desteği olmayanların, göç edilen bölgede kalma süresi kısa olanların, dil engelinin, sağlık hizmetleri ücretinin ve sağlık/hastalıkla ilişkili değer-lerin sağlık hizmetlerinden yararlanmak için engel olduğu belirlenmiştir.…”

Immigration and Health Services: Immigrant Complaint Patterns Regarding the Primary Health Care System in Israel

“…Such findings were also found in other countries. Studies conducted in the U.S. on the utilization of health care services found that immigrants were less likely than native-born individuals or those of longer duration of stay, to use care initially and had fewer total contacts with a physician (Nagi & Haavio-Mannila, 1980;Leclere et al, 1994;Ku & Matani, 2001).…”