title: A health behaviour cross-sectional study of immigrants and non-immigrants in a Swiss urban general-practice setting.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ambulatory Care and Community Medicine, University Outpatient Clinic, Bugnon 44, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland. patrick.bodenmann@hospvd.ch
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bodenmann
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cornuz
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vaucher
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ghali
authors.forename: Jean-Bernard
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Daeppen
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Favrat
mesh_terms: 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