COVID-19: information access, trust and adherence to health advice among migrants in Norway

Ahmed A Madar,Gaby Ortiz-Barreda,Pierina Benavente,Esperanza Diaz,Jasmin Haj-Younes,George Deeb,Elżbieta Czapka,Raquel Herrero-Arias,Wegdan Hasha,Kathy A Møen

doi:10.1186/s13690-021-00764-4

Abstract

BackgroundMigrants in Norway bear a higher burden of COVID-19 infections and hospitalization as compared to non-migrants. The aim of our study was to understand how migrants perceive their own health risk, how they access information regarding the preventive measures, the degree of trust in this information, in the Norwegian authorities and the news media, and migrants’ adherence to authorities’ recommendations regarding the pandemic.MethodsAn online survey was performed between May and July 2020 among 529 Polish, Arabic, Somali, Tamil, and Spanish-speaking migrants in Norway. For each outcome presented in the aims, unweighted and weighted descriptive analyses were performed for all migrants together and for each language group.ResultsSixty-one percent of migrants perceived their health as excellent or very good, with the lowest value (42%) in the Tamil group and the highest among Somalians (85%). The majority of respondents (82%) felt they had received sufficient information. Press conferences from the government, health authorities’ websites, and Norwegian news media were the preferred channels of information for all groups. Most migrants reported a high level of adherence to preventive measures (88%) and trust in Norwegian authorities (79%). However, there were variations among groups regarding the importance of sources of information and level of trust, which was lowest for the Polish group.ConclusionMigrants in Norway reported receiving sufficient information about COVID-19 and high adherence to preventive measures. However, the levels of trust in the information sources, the services and the authorities varied among the groups. Understanding how migrants are dealing with this pandemic is crucial to improve the dissemination of information and trust in the health authorities for the different groups.

Highlights

Migrants in Norway bear a higher burden of COVID-19 infections and hospitalization as compared to non-migrants
Over and above the overrepresentation of COVID-19 infected among people in the lowest socioeconomic levels, several European countries report an excessive burden of infection and higher hospitalization rates among migrants as compared to the majority populations [3,4,5,6]
Norge [14], an online survey was developed based on the Norwegian Citizen Panel (NCP) survey performed in March of 2020 in relation to the pandemic

Summary

Introduction

Migrants in Norway bear a higher burden of COVID-19 infections and hospitalization as compared to non-migrants. The COVID-19 pandemic has become one of the most important public health crisis in Europe and put a great toll on health and health systems worldwide. Over and above the overrepresentation of COVID-19 infected among people in the lowest socioeconomic levels, several European countries report an excessive burden of infection and higher hospitalization rates among migrants as compared to the majority populations [3,4,5,6]. According to Statistics Norway (SSB), in 2020, about 18% of the total population in Norway had migrant background (14.7% had migrated themselves and 3.5% were Norwegian born to migrant parents). Migrants in Norway come originally from 221 different countries, have different lengths of stay in the host country and represent a vast heterogeneity in terms of cultural and socioeconomic background [8]

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