Healthy Immigrant Effect and Immigrant Women’s Health Issues in Canada: A Scoping Review of Health Measures

Abstract

The healthy immigrant effect describes a phenomenon in which immigrants lose health advantage overtime as they reside longer in their migrated country. A scoping review was conducted to observe whether this phenomenon is also observable in the Canadian immigrant demographic specific to women’s health issues. A search strategy was used to collect relevant quantitative studies from MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Healthstar, and CINAHL databases. The studies examined the relationship between duration of residence in Canada and cervical screening rates, intimate partner violence, help seeking rates for intimate partner violence, and a range of obstetrical outcomes including antenatal and postpartum depression, maternal placental syndrome, illness and hospitalization during pregnancy, and preterm birth. The studies reported gradual approximation of immigrant health status and behaviours to long-term resident or Canadian-born patterns. However, the direction of the effect varied for each health measure. Immigrants were less likely to experience intimate partner violence, maternal placental syndrome, illness or hospitalization during pregnancy, and preterm birth, but were more likely to suffer from antenatal and postpartum depression and less cervical screening. Ethnic background and country of origin seem to modulate these effects. Clinical implications of the study encourage the health care system to consider the unique needs and risk factors of the recent immigrant population including economic, language, and social challenges, while discouraging acculturation of immigrants to harmful lifestyles and behaviours. The researchers recommend future studies to account for specific dynamics within ethnic and language groups and to utilize more longitudinal designs.