Abstract
BackgroundThe proportion of migrants and refugees increase in many populations. Health planners have to consider how migration will influence demand for health care. This study explores how migrants’ geographical origin, reason for migration, and duration of residence are associated with admission rates to somatic hospitals in Norway.MethodsSociodemographic information on all individuals residing in Norway at the start of 2008 was linked to data on all admissions to somatic hospitals during 2008–2011. Migrants, age 30–69, who had come to Norway during 1970–2007 (N = 217,907), were classified into seven world region origins and compared with native Norwegians of the same age (N = 2,181,948). Any somatic hospital stay 2008–2011 and number of hospital admissions 2008–2011 per 1000 personyears for a set of somatic diagnoses were analyzed by age and gender standardized rates, linear probability models, and Poisson regression.ResultsIn the native Norwegian sample, 28.7 % had at least one admission 2008–2011, and there were 116 admissions per 1000 personyears. Corresponding age and gender adjusted figures for the migrant sample were 27.0 % and 103 admissions. Admission rates varied with migrants’ geographical origin, with relatively many admissions among migrants from West and South Asia and relatively few admissions among migrants from Western, East European, and Other Asian countries. Hospitalization varied strongly with reason for migration, with low admission rates for recent work migrants and high admission rates for recent refugees. Admission rates tended to move towards the level among native Norwegians with increasing length of stay. Among longstanding migrants (arrival period 1970–1989), admission rates were close to the levels of native Norwegians for most analyzed migrant categories.ConclusionBoth world region origin, reason for migration, and duration of residence are important sources for variations in migrants’ utilization of somatic hospitals. Forecasts about migrants’ use of hospital services have to take into account how the migrant population is composed as to these three determinants. High admission rates among recently arrived refugees should be a health policy concern.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1561-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
The proportion of migrants and refugees increase in many populations
Main results This study has shown that overall, the migrant population in Norway, age 30–69, had lower admission rates to somatic hospitals during 2008–2011 than the native Norwegian population
Migrants from West and South Asia had higher hospitalization rates than native Norwegians, while relatively low utilization levels were observed among migrants from Western and European Union countries, as well as among migrants from other parts of Asia
Summary
The proportion of migrants and refugees increase in many populations. Health planners have to consider how migration will influence demand for health care. This study explores how migrants’ geographical origin, reason for migration, and duration of residence are associated with admission rates to somatic hospitals in Norway. The increasing number of migrants and refugees in many countries is a challenge for the health services. In addition to access and equity issues [1, 2], health politicians will have to ask how the demand for health care is affected. Diverse findings are to be expected, since studies differ in methodology and what type of hospital care they address, and migrant populations vary both between host countries and within each host country over time.
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