Abstract
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Background
Despite the heterogeneity of Canada's immigrant population, small sample sizes often prevent health researchers from studying specific subgroups. This report demonstrates how combining cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) makes it possible to move beyond the Canadian-born/immigrant dichotomy to more refined analyses of immigrant health.
Data and methods
Based on combined data from the 2003, 2005, and 2007/2008 CCHS, this analysis compares the age-standardized prevalence of fair/poor self-perceived health, diabetes and arthritis among immigrants and the Canadian-born population at three progressively more precise breakdowns of immigrants by birthplace.
Results
Overall, immigrants were more likely than the Canadian-born to report poor health and diabetes, but less likely to report arthritis. This association changed when the immigrant group was disaggregated. This report demonstrates the importance of analyzing immigrants' health outcomes by birthplace and duration of residence in Canada.
Interpretation
Studies based on the immigrant/non-immigrant dichotomy combine immigrants with different risk factors, settlement experiences and health behaviours, and can yield findings that appear contradictory. Analysis of more specific immigrant subgroups improves understanding of immigrants' health relative to that of the Canadian-born population.
Keywords
Arthritis, diabetes, birthplace, health surveys, immigration, self-perceived health, time since immigration
Findings
According to the 2006 Census, nearly 20% of Canada's population were foreign-born.1 Moreover, in the last 35 years, the predominant source countries of immigrants to Canada have shifted from Europe to Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Because of immigrants' increasingly diverse origins, it is important to study them as a non-homogenous group. A challenge facing health researchers is that small sample surveys can limit the analysis of immigrant subpopulations. [Full Text]
Authors
Michelle Rotermann (613-951-3166; michelle.rotermann@statcan.gc.ca) is with the Health Analysis Division at Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0T6.
What is already known on this subject
- Differences in immigrants' health and health care use can exist by world region of birth and duration of residence in Canada, but sample sizes from most surveys do not permit such breakdowns.
What does this study add
- This study demonstrates the analytical advantage of combining cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) to examine immigrant health.
- When three cycles of CCHS data are combined, differences emerge in the prevalence of self-reported fair/poor health, arthritis and diabetes by immigrants' birthplace and duration of residence in Canada.
- The combined data demonstrate how moving beyond the Canadian-born/immigrant dichotomy can improve understanding of the health of Canada's immigrant population.
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