Contextual factors and immigrants' health status: double jeopardy.
Poor health among immigrants may be accounted for not only by socio-economic factors affecting individuals but also by the environment in which they live. We investigated the association of contextual factors with disparities in self-rated health between native and immigrant groups. The findings indicated that, compared with native-born Belgians, immigrant groups from Turkey and Morocco were more likely to have poorer self-rated health. When contextual factors and individual socio-economic status were allowed for, all immigrant groups had a health status that was similar to or even better than that of native-born Belgians. Immigrants face a double jeopardy at both the individual and the contextual level.
Public Health School, Université Catholique de Louvain, Clos Chapelle aux Champs 30.41, Brussels, Belgium. lorant@sesa.ucl.ac.be
Vincent
V
Lorant
Herman
H
Van Oyen
Isabelle
I
Thomas
D001530:Belgium; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D009018:Morocco / Q000208:ethnology; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012923:Social Class; D014421:Turkey / Q000208:ethnology