TITLE:
Health Status Inequality among Immigrants in Switzerland
AUTHORS:
Thomas Volken, Peter Rüesch
KEYWORDS:
Health Status, Impairment, Immigrant, Switzerland
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Preventive Medicine,
Vol.4 No.6,
June
13,
2014
ABSTRACT: Objective: To assess self-rated health and impairments for six
large immigrant groups (Germany, Italy, Kosovo, Portugal, Serbia, Turkey) in
Switzerland. Methods: We used population-based survey data from
the Swiss Migrant Health Survey 2010 and the Swiss Health Survey 2007. The
sample comprised permanent residents aged 17 - 64 years (n = 14,637).
Multivariate logistic regressions have been used to estimate odds ratios (OR). Results: Ill health and activities of daily living (ADL) impairments were
associated with older age in all groups. However, nationals from Turkey and
nationals from Kosovo were substantially more likely than Swiss to report ill
health (OR = 1.05; CI = 1.02 - 1.09; P = 0.001 and OR = 1.05; CI = 1.01 - 1.10;
P = 0.016) and ADL impairments (OR = 1.06; CI = 1.03 - 1.09; P = 0.000 and OR =
1.04; CI = 1.01 - 1.07; P = 0.004) with increasing age. Furthermore, Portuguese
women were more likely (OR = 2.65; CI = 1.40 - 5.03; P = 0.003) to report ill
health than Swiss women. Conclusions: Immigrant-specific preventive and
health promotion initiatives should target vulnerable immigrants from Turkey,
Portugal, and Kosovo. Furthermore, groups with few economic and psychosocial
resources in the general population of Switzerland should be more involved in
interventions to reduce health risk.