Abstract
PurposeTo compare chronic health status, utilization of healthcare services and life satisfaction among immigrant women and their Canadian counterparts.Design/methodology/approachA secondary analysis of national data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), 2015–2016 was conducted. The survey data included 109,659 cases. Given the research question, only female cases were selected, which resulted in a final sample of 52,560 cases. Data analysis was conducted using multiple methods, including logistic regression and linear regression.FindingsRecent and established immigrant women were healthier than native-born Canadian women. While the Healthy Immigrant Effect (HIE) was evident among immigrant women, some characteristics related to ethnic origin and/or unhealthy dietary habits may deteriorate immigrant women's health in the long term. Immigrant women and non-immigrant women with chronic illnesses were both more likely to increase their use of the healthcare system. Notably, the present study did not find evidence that immigrant women under-utilized Canada's healthcare system. However, the findings showed that chronic health issues were more likely to decrease women's life satisfaction.Originality/valueThis analysis contributes to the understanding of immigrant women's acculturation by comparing types of chronic illnesses, healthcare visits, and life satisfaction between immigrant women and their Canadian counterparts.
Highlights
Immigrants comprise a significant component of Canadian society, as more than 20% of the Canadian population was born overseas [1]
Comparative general health condition, healthcare service use, and life satisfaction The differences in general chronic health conditions, doctor visits, and life satisfaction among the three groups of women were compared (Table 2)
Consistent with much of the research on the healthy immigrant effect (HIE) [2, 4], our findings show that recent immigrant women tend to be healthier than native-born women and are less likely to have chronic health conditions than established immigrant women
Summary
Immigrants comprise a significant component of Canadian society, as more than 20% of the Canadian population was born overseas [1]. Compared to their male counterparts, female immigrants are left behind in many areas, such as in civic participation, income, health and access to healthcare [1]. The HIE posits that immigrants, and recent immigrants, have a health advantage in their receiving countries due to being generally healthier than the native-born population [2,3,4,5] This is supported by Newbold’s [4] comparison of the health status of
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