Self-rated health within the Canadian immigrant population: risk and the healthy immigrant effect.
Set within the determinants of health framework and drawing upon Statistics Canada's longitudinal National Population Health Survey, this paper explores the self-assessed health of Canada's immigrant population. Using both descriptive and multivariate techniques, including logistic regression and survival analysis, the intent is to identify differences in self-assessed health between the immigrant and native-born populations, the factors that contribute to immigrant self-assessed health, and the factors associated with declining self-assessed health status. In each case, the key questions are whether differences in health status exist between the native- and foreign-born. Results indicate mixed support for the Healthy Immigrant Effect, with the native- and foreign-born neither more nor less likely to rank their health as fair or poor. However, results from the proportional hazards model indicated that the native-born were at lower risk to transition to poor health.
Newbold
K Bruce
KB
School of Geography and Geology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. West, Hamilton, Ont., L8S 4K1, Canada. newbold@mcmaster.ca
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D015706:Bibliometrics; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors