recent research on immigrant health from statistics canada’s.pptVIP

Recent Research on Immigrant Health from Statistics Canada’s Population Surveys Jennifer Ali Statistics Canada How do immigrants fare in comparison with people born in Canada on health and health-related indicators? Immigrants relatively small proportion of population (16% of population) Need large study for comparisons Statistics Canada: suitable large-scale data Immigrant Research Using Statistics Canada Surveys National Population Health Survey (NPHS) 17, 605 respondents age 12 and over (1994/95) cross-sectional and longitudinal components Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) over 131,000 respondents age 15 and over (cycle 1.1) Other Surveys Canada’s Alcohol and Other Drug Survey (CADS) National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) Health and Activity Limitations Survey (HALS) General Social Surveys (GSS) Administrative data Health Indicators Studied Physical health Mental health Health behaviors, determinants of health Health service utilization Trends in Findings across Studies Healthy immigrant effect: In general, immigrants are either the same as Canadian-born or are healthier, have better health behaviors and use services less. Variation among immigrants: Gradient with duration in Canada Findings most applicable to Non-European immigrants Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 What do these studies tell us about immigrant health? Cross-sectional patterns with representative samples: benchmarks established Variation among immigrants important for health Limitations and Future Research Cohort effects likely Processes of acculturation and change not studied Focused longitudinal studies needed Further examine subgroups among immigrants (e.g. refugees) Limitations and Future Research Role of cultural differences in understanding and reporting health Non-response due to language barriers New Survey: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada 5,800 immigrants, 3 interviews over 4 years * Data Source: 2000/01 Canadian Community Health Survey Cl