A health behaviour cross-sectional study of immigrants and non-immigrants in a Swiss urban general-practice setting.
BACKGROUND
Little is known about smoking, unhealthy use of alcohol, and risk behaviours for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in immigrants from developed and developing countries.


METHODS
We performed a cross-sectional study of 400 patients who consulted an academic emergency care centre at a Swiss university hospital. The odds ratios for having one or more risk behaviours were adjusted for age, gender, and education level.


RESULTS
Immigrants from developing countries were less likely to use alcohol in an unhealthy manner (OR = 0.35, 95% CI 0.22-0.57) or practise risk behaviours for STDs (OR = 0.31, 95% CI 0.13-0.74). They were also less likely to have any of the three studied risk behaviours (OR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.5-4.3).


CONCLUSIONS
In addition to the usual determinants, health behaviours are also associated with origin; distinguishing between immigrants from developing and developed countries is useful in clinical settings. Surprisingly, patients from developing countries tend to possess several protective characteristics.
Bodenmann
Patrick
P
Department of Ambulatory Care and Community Medicine, University Outpatient Clinic, Bugnon 44, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland. patrick.bodenmann@hospvd.ch
Cornuz
Jacques
J
Vaucher
Paul
P
Ghali
William
W
Daeppen
Jean-Bernard
JB
Favrat
Bernard
B
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D013557:Switzerland; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult