Abstract
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Background
Keywords
Findings
Author
What is already known on this subject?
What does this study add?
Background
The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) fills important health information gaps, but the feasibility of using it for immigrant research is unknown.
Data and methods
Weighted estimates of socio-demographic variables by immigrant status from the combined cycles 1 and 2 of the CHMS (2007 to 2009 and 2009 to 2011) were compared with distributions from the 2006 Census and the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS). Weighted CHMS estimates of selected self-reported health indicators among immigrants were compared with corresponding data from the 2009/2010 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) by age group, sex, broad world region of origin, and period of arrival. Z-scores were used to detect statistical significance between the CHMS and CCHS estimates.
Results
The CHMS immigrant sample is generally similar to the average of 2006 Census/2011 NHS samples, but it contains higher percentages of recent immigrants, 30- to 49-year-olds, and immigrants from South/Central America. Estimates of selected self-reported health and health behaviour variables from the CHMS and the CCHS were similar overall, with minor differences at subgroup levels, and some inconclusive results due to high variability.
Interpretation
The combined CHMS immigrant sample can be used for health research. However, it is necessary to ensure that variables of interest meet sample size and prevalence requirements, especially at the subgroup level.
Keywords
Birthplace, data pooling, health surveys, physical health measures
Findings
Several studies have shown that infant mortality and stillbirth rates are higher among First Nations and Inuit people than in the rest of the Canadian population. In these studies, Aboriginal people were identified on the basis of residence in an area with a large percentage of Aboriginal people, census data, self-identification on birth records (British Columbia), or mother tongue of the mother (Quebec). [Full Text]
Author
Edward Ng (Edward.ng@statcan.gc.ca) is with the Health Analysis Division at Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0T6.
What is already known on this subject?
- Few previous studies have used the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) to study immigrant health outcomes, partly because of small sample sizes.
- A recent analysis concluded that combined cycle 1 and cycle 2 CHMS data are representative of immigrant populations from countries or areas with high risk of Hepatitis B and C (South America, Africa, China/Hong Kong).
- A systematic evaluation of the overall suitability of the CHMS for immigrant research is needed.
What does this study adds?
- Comparisons with data from the 2006 Census and the 2011 National Household Survey show that the combined CHMS data are generally representative of the immigrant population in Canada.
- Estimates of selected self-reported health and health behaviour indicators from the CHMS and the Canadian Community Health Survey were similar overall, but minor differences at subgroup levels were apparent, as well as inconclusive results due to high sampling variability.
- The CHMS is suitable for immigrant health research provided that the variables of interest meet sample size and prevalence requirements.
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