Disparities in Mortality Patterns Among Canadian Immigrants and Refugees, 1980-1998: Results of a National Cohort Study

• Published in: Journal of immigrant and minority health Vol. 7; no. 4; pp. 221 - 232
• Main Authors: DesMeules, Marie, Gold, Jenny, McDermott, Sarah, Cao, Zhenyuan, Payne, Jennifer, Lafrance, Bryan, Vissandjée, Bilkis, Kliewer, Erich, Mao, Yang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Springer Science+Business Media, Inc 01.10.2005; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Attrition (Research Studies); Canada; Child; Child, Preschool; Chronic illnesses; Cohort Studies; Communicable Diseases; Confidence Intervals; Emigrants and Immigrants - statistics & numerical data; Female; Health Behavior; Health risks; Health Status Disparities; Heterogeneity; Humans; Immigrants; IMMIGRANTS TO CANADA; Immigration; Individual Characteristics; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infectious diseases; Language Skills; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Middle Aged; Migration; Mortality; Mortality patterns; Mortality Rate; Mortality risk; Multivariate Analysis; Noncitizens; Official Languages; Poisson Distribution; Public Health; Refugees; Refugees - statistics & numerical data; Risk; Risk assessment; Risk Factors; Statistical analysis; Studies; Young Adult; Canada
• ISSN: 1096-4045; 1557-1912; 1573-3629; 1557-1920
• DOI: 10.1007/s10903-005-5118-y

This study examines mortality patterns among Canadian immigrants, including both refugees and non-refugees, 1980-1998. Records of a stratified random sample of Canadian immigrants landing between 1980-1990 (N = 369,936) were probabilistically linked to mortality data (1980-1998). Mortality rates among immigrants were compared to those of the general Canadian population, stratifying by age, sex, immigration category, region of birth and time in Canada. Multivariate analysis examined mortality risks for various immigrant subgroups. Although immigrants presented lower all-cause mortality than the general Canadian population (SMR between 0.34 and 0.58), some cause-specific mortality rates were elevated among immigrants, including mortality from stroke, diabetes, infectious diseases (AIDS and hepatitis among certain subgroups), and certain cancers (liver and nasopharynx). Mortality rates differed by region of birth, and were higher among refugees than other immigrants. These results support the need to consider the heterogeneity of immigrant populations and vulnerable subgroups when developing targeted interventions.