Mortality from Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Immigration and Socioeconomic Factors

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to investigate associations between immigration status and mortality from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States. It was hypothesized that there are no mortality differentials between native-born and foreign-born Americans once controls are made for socioeconomic factors. Methods: Data were obtained from the United States National Longitudinal Mortality Study. Cox Proportional hazards regression models were fit to the data, with the entire sample of male and female respondents. Analysis was then stratified to do separate models for each sex group. Results: Immigrants were much less likely to die of sexual diseases than their native-born counterparts. Results held even after controlling for a place of residence, marital status, educational attainment and household income. The sample was disaggregated by sex. In the male sample, immigration was negatively associated with mortality from Sexually transmitted diseases. Among women, negative associations were also observed association between immigration and sexually transmitted diseases. The ever married and the never married were much more likely to die of sexually transmitted disease. Men experienced mortality risk that was over 3 times that of women. Conclusion: Debates continue in the United States about the possible effects of immigration on health. Findings from this study show that using a relatively large sample of over 1 million individuals, immigrants were much less likely to die from STDs than native-born Americans. It was concluded that foreign-born are not contributing positively to US STD mortality.