Abstract
There is ambiguous evidence with regard to the inequalities in health care services utilization (HCSU) among migrants and non-migrants in Germany. The aim of this study was to analyze the utilization of doctors and hospitalization of persons with direct and indirect migration background as well as those without in Germany. This study was based on data of the German Socio-Economic Panel using the adult sample of the years 2013 to 2019. HCSU was measured by self-reported utilization of doctors and hospitalization. Associations between HCSU and migration background were examined using multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression and zero-truncated multilevel mixed-effects generalized linear models. The odds ratios of utilization of doctors and hospitalization for persons with direct migration background compared with persons without migration background were 0.73 (p < 0.001) and 0.79 (p = 0.002), respectively. A direct migration background was associated with a 6% lower number of doctoral visits within three months compared with no migration background (p = 0.023). Persons with direct migration background still have a lower HCSU than persons without migration background in Germany. Access to health care needs to be ensured and health policy-makers are called upon to keep focus on the issue of inequalities in HCSU between migrants and non-migrants in Germany.
Highlights
Did the emergence of new migratory flows with the fall of the Iron Curtain and the expansion of the European Union in the last three decades lead to an increase in persons with direct migration background [2], and the growing up of a new generation of persons, i.e., persons with indirect migration background, whose parents were work migrants, had bearing on this increase too [3,4]
A recent systematic literature review about inequalities in health care services utilization (HCSU) among migrants and non-migrants in Germany found a lower utilization among persons with migration background [5]
Persons with direct migration background and females with migration background were identified as groups with a particular low HCSU
Summary
A recent systematic literature review about inequalities in health care services utilization (HCSU) among migrants and non-migrants in Germany found a lower utilization among persons with migration background [5]. This lower utilization was shown, among others, for specialists, therapists, and medication, while the results for utilization of doctors and hospitalization were inconclusive. There is ambiguous evidence with regard to the inequalities in health care services utilization (HCSU) among migrants and non-migrants in Germany. The aim of this study was to analyze the utilization of doctors and hospitalization of persons with direct and indirect migration background as well as those without in Germany.
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