SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Immigration”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 757 records · Page 42Linked to original sources

PubMed1998

Tuberculosis among immigrants and refugees.

BACKGROUND: Overseas screening of immigrants and refugees applying for a visa to the United States identifies foreign-born individuals who are at high risk for tuberculosis (TB) or who have active TB. The system's effectiveness relies on further medical evaluation and follow-up of foreign-born individuals after their arrival in the United States. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of 893 immigrants and refugees who arrived in the United States from July 1, 1992, through December 31, 1993, with a destination of San Francisco, Calif, and a referral for further medical evaluation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Time to report to the local health department after arrival and the yield of active and preventable cases of TB from follow-up medical evaluations. RESULTS: Median time from arrival in the United States to seeking care in San Francisco was 9 days (range, 1-920 days). Of 745 immigrants and refugees (83.4%) who sought further medical evaluation, 51 (6.9%) had active TB and 296 (39.7%) were candidates for preventive therapy. Being a refugee was an independent predictor of failure to seek further medical evaluation in the United States. Class B-1 disease status based on overseas TB screening (odds ratio, 3.5; 95% confidence interval, 2.0-6.2) and being from mainland China (odds ratio, 4.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.9-9.9) were independent predictors of TB diagnosed in San Francisco. CONCLUSIONS: Timely, adequate medical evaluation and follow-up care of immigrants and refugees has a relatively high yield and should be a high priority for TB prevention and control programs.

Emigration and Immigration↗

PubMed2006

Assessing the performance of overseas tuberculosis screening programs: a study among US-bound immigrants in Vietnam.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis cases in foreign-born persons account for more than 50% of all tuberculosis cases in the United States. The Institute of Medicine has recommended enhancing overseas screening as one measure to support tuberculosis elimination efforts. We assessed the ability of overseas tuberculosis screening (chest radiograph followed by 3 acid-fast bacilli sputum smears for persons with abnormal chest radiographs [suggestive of active tuberculosis]) to detect pulmonary tuberculosis disease among US-bound immigrants with abnormal chest radiographs. METHODS: During October 1998 to October 1999, 14 098 US immigrant visa applicants were screened overseas in Vietnam. Adult applicants with abnormal chest radiographs were enrolled to assess screening test characteristics among this group using mycobacterial culture as the gold standard for pulmonary tuberculosis disease diagnosis. Risk factors for pulmonary tuberculosis disease were also evaluated. RESULTS: Among 1179 adult applicants with abnormal chest radiographs, 82 (7.0%) had positive acid-fast bacilli smear results, and 183 (15.5%) had positive Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture results (pulmonary tuberculosis disease). The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of serial acid-fast bacilli screening among this group were 34.4% (63/183), 98.1% (977/996), 76.8% (63/82), and 89.1% (977/1097), respectively. Risk factors for pulmonary tuberculosis disease included younger age (18-34 years), no history of tuberculosis or treatment, reported symptoms, and cavitation or consolidation on chest radiograph. CONCLUSIONS: The ability of current overseas screening to detect tuberculosis among immigrants with abnormal chest radiographs is low. Improved diagnostic methods, enhanced screening measures, and postmigration follow-up are essential to control tuberculosis among immigrants and support US and global tuberculosis elimination.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Benign prostatic hyperplasia morbidity and mortality among immigrants in Australia and Canada.

Previous studies have suggested that the risk of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) varies among racial and ethnic groups. However, these studies have tended to be anecdotal or based on crude proportions or rates. This study describes the age-standardized BPH hospitalization (1985-1987) and mortality (1984-1988) rates (SMRs) for numerous immigrant groups in Australia and Canada. The SMRs for some of the immigrants were compared with those in the origin countries. Both the BPH hospitalization and mortality rates varied markedly among immigrant groups. The most consistent findings were the low rates of Italians and Asians. Relative to the origin country SMRs, the SMRs for the majority of immigrant groups shifted towards the destination native-born rate. This convergence probably resulted from more standard procedures of BPH ascertainment and cause of death recording within a country than between countries, and possibly, from convergence in risk factor levels.

Australia↗

PubMed2006

Dysbacteriosis in silver-stained cervical smears of Dutch-Moroccan immigrants: HPV infection and preneoplasia.

The vaginal/cervical smears of a group of Moroccan immigrants were used to compare vaginal dysbacteriosis (i.e., a bacterial population change with a decrease in lactobacilli and an increase of coccoid bacteria in vaginal/cervical smears) with Dutch women. From our archives, 779 smears from Moroccan immigrants were compared with 1,060 smears of age-matched Dutch women. For bacterial flora, Jones-Marres silver stains were used to define four groups. Koilocytosis and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) were also recorded. The bacterial vaginal flora of Moroccan immigrants and Dutch women was different. The Moroccan women had a lower dysbacteriosis than Dutch women (3% vs. 24%). Koilocytosis and CIN were less frequent in the immigrant population. The possible synergy of a disturbed vaginal flora with human papillomavirus (HPV), HIV, or cervical preneoplasia indicates that vaginal hygiene and a normal flora may have positive effects on the uterine cervix.

Case-Control Studies↗

PubMed2002

Cancer risks in second-generation immigrants to Sweden.

We used the nationwide Swedish Family-Cancer Database to analyze cancer risks in Sweden-born descendants of immigrants from European and North American countries. Our study included close to 600,000 0-66-year-old descendants of an immigrant father or mother. We calculated standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for 17 cancer sites using native Swedes as a reference. All cancer was marginally below the Swedish incidence in offspring of immigrant origin. Decreased SIRs were observed for breast cancer among Norwegian descendants, melanoma among descendants of Hungarian fathers and ovarian and bladder cancer among descendents of Finnish mothers, all consistent with the difference in cancer incidence between Swedes and the indigenous populations. Cervical cancer was increased in daughters of Danish men, whereas thyroid cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were in excess in offspring of parents of Yugoslav and Asian descent. Even these results agreed with the high incidence rates in parents compared to Swedes, except that for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma other explanations are needed; these may be related to immune malfunction. Comparison of the results between the first- and the second-generation immigrants suggest that the first 2 decades of life are important in setting the pattern for cancer development in subsequent life. Birth in Sweden sets the Swedish pattern for cancer incidence, irrespective of the nationality of descent, while entering Sweden in the 20s is already too late to influence the environmentally imprinted program for the cancer destiny.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Technical challenges faced by the immigrant psychoanalyst.

This paper delineates the technical challenges faced by immigrant analysts. These include (i) maintaining cultural neutrality toward "native" patients, (ii) wondering about the patient's motivations for choosing an ethnoculturally different analyst, (iii) scanning the patient's associations for interethnic clues to deeper transferences, (iv) negotiating the dilemmas posed by conducting analysis in a language other than one's mother tongue, and (v) avoiding shared projections, acculturation gaps, and nostalgic collusion in working with homoethnic immigrant analysands. While by no means irrelevant to the clinical work of non-immigrant analysts, these tasks seem to have a greater importance for the immigrant analyst. Brief clinical vignettes are offered to illustrate these propositions and to highlight the tension between the universality of fundamental intrapsychic and relational configurations, on the one hand, and the nuances of cultural and linguistic context, on the other.

Communication Barriers↗

PubMed1999

Effects of immigration on some stochastic logistic models: a cumulant truncation analysis.

This paper uses a new cumulant truncation methodology to investigate the stochastic power law logistic model with immigration, and illustrates the model with parameter values used to describe the growth of muskrat populations in the Netherlands. This model has a stable equilibrium distribution. The incorporation of immigration into the model, therefore, simplifies the qualitative nature of the stochastic solution. The (unconditional) cumulant functions for the transient and the equilibrium population size distributions are obtained, from which the distributions are shown to be near-normal at all times for the parameter values of interest. Approximating cumulant functions, which are relatively easy to find in practice, are derived and shown to be quite accurate, except for the case of massive immigration. As the level of immigration increases, the mean value rises more rapidly initially, as expected; however, the variance and the skewness of both the transient and the equilibrium distributions are reduced.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Recent immigration to Italy: character, causes and consequences.

"During the 1970s Italy changed from being a country of mass emigration to one of mass immigration, taking over from Germany the role of Europe's main recipient of immigrants from less developed countries. By 1991 the officially registered foreign population in Italy stood at 860,000; however, clandestine migrants push the real figure above 1 million.... Analysis of residence permit data show that the immigrants come increasingly from Third World, especially African, countries, and that there is a relative concentration in the north of Italy. One third of the immigrants are Moslem. Employment data are scarce but indicate that around two-thirds are involved in low-grade service sector activities (street-trading, domestic service, hotel work etc.)."

Demography↗

PubMed1992

What difference do alternative immigration and integration levels make to Western Europe?

The authors examine the effects of migration and migrant assimilation on population dynamics in Western Europe. "Alternative multi-state population projections to 2050 based on six scenarios show that (1) in the case of no further immigration the total population of Western Europe will start to decline after 2010; (2) the rate of integration influences the future size of the non-European population much more than alternative levels of immigration; (3) in the long run the Eastern Europeans will be quantitatively insignificant; (4) the Western European population is bound to significant population aging no matter what happens with immigration; and (5) in the short to medium run immigrants contribute to the alleviation of the pension burden." (SUMMARY IN FRE)

Acculturation↗

PubMed1997

Immigration as a source of political discontent and frustration in Western democracies.

"This article describes the migration context of three sets of Western democracies and then explores plausible linkages between the scale, timing, and characteristics of migration, and the substance and process of migration policies, on the one hand, and support for government, on the other. Trying to move beyond plausibility, I discuss indirect indicators of the impact of immigration on Western publics: attitudes toward immigration policy and immigrants, support for extremist parties, and acts of violence and disorder linked to anti-immigrant or racist motives."

Attitude↗

PubMed2005

Predicting externalizing problems in Moroccan immigrant adolescents in the Netherlands.

BACKGROUND: Although an increasing proportion of the population in Western countries originates from non-Western parts of the world, little research has been conducted on predictors of externalizing problems in immigrant adolescent samples. This study on the predictors of externalizing problems in Moroccan immigrant adolescents in the Netherlands was aimed to contribute to the knowledge in this field. METHODS: We obtained 415 parent-reports, 376 self-reports and 238 teacher-reports on problem behavior in a general population sample of randomly selected 11- to 18-year-old Moroccan immigrant adolescents, using the Child Behavior Checklist, Youth Self-Report and Teacher's Report Form. RESULTS: The data revealed a clear relation between externalizing problems and several child (gender, internalizing problems), proximal family (parental monitoring and affection, support from father and mother, and parent-child conflict), contextual family (conflicts between parents about parenting, destructive communication between parents, and total number of life-events), school/peer (problems at school, involvement with deviant peers, hanging out), and migration variables (adolescent's perceived discrimination). Hardly any association was observed between externalizing problems and parental psychopathology, and between externalizing problems and global family variables (e.g., family employment level). Most findings matched results found in earlier studies on non-immigrant youth. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the child, school/peer, and proximal family factors are essential in models predicting the development of externalizing behavior. The impact of the migration factor on externalizing problems turned out to be relatively small.

Acculturation↗

PubMed2005

Predicting internalizing problems in Moroccan immigrant adolescents in The Netherlands.

BACKGROUND: With the increasing number of immigrants worldwide, it is essential to have insight into the factors associated with internalizing problems in immigrant youth. However, little research on this subject has been conducted. The aim of the current study is to contribute to the knowledge in this field. METHODS: Data were obtained from the general population of 11- to 18-year-old Moroccan immigrant adolescents in The Netherlands. Using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Youth Self-Report (YSR), and Teacher's Report Form (TRF), 415 parent, 376 self-, and 238 teacher reports were available for analysis. RESULTS: The data showed relations between internalizing problems and several child (externalizing and chronic health problems), proximal family (paternal and maternal support and parent-child conflict), contextual family (conflicts between parents about parenting and total number of life-events), school/peer (being bored), and migration variables (adolescent's perceived discrimination). Moreover, a modest relation was found between internalizing problems and parental psychopathology. Few associations occurred with the global family factor (e.g., family educational level). Several relations between the predictors and YSR internalizing proved to be gender-specific. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that the child, school/peer, and proximal family factors are the most important in predicting the development of internalizing problems in Moroccan immigrant adolescents. The impact of the migration factor was small.

Acculturation↗

PubMed2002

Comparative, clinico-epidemiologic study of Schistosoma mansoni infections in travellers and immigrants in Spain.

The study presented here aimed to contrast the marked clinical differences in the presentation of Schistosoma mansoni-induced infection between immigrants and travellers entering Spain from endemic regions, and to elucidate the therapeutic implications of these infections. A total of 200 African immigrants and 80 travellers with schistosomiasis were included in the study. Among the immigrants, 25 patients were diagnosed with Schistosoma mansoni infection; 15 presented with nonspecific symptoms, and 10 were asymptomatic. Hepatosplenomegaly was observed in nine. Among the travellers, 14 were diagnosed with Schistosoma mansoni infection; four were asymptomatic, four had Katayama syndrome, four had diarrhoea, and two had prostatitis. All of the patients were treated with praziquantel. Patients diagnosed with Katayama syndrome received praziquantel and dexamethasone for 3 days, with the praziquantel treatment being repeated at 3-4 weeks. The significant differences observed in the clinical presentation of Schistosoma mansoni-induced infection, indicate that a well-differentiated therapeutic strategy is required when this infection is diagnosed in a non-immune (traveller) or a semi-immune (immigrant) patient.

Adult↗

PubMed2007

Quality of race, Hispanic ethnicity, and immigrant status in population-based cancer registry data: implications for health disparity studies.

Population-based cancer registry data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program at the National Cancer Institute are based on medical records and administrative information. Although SEER data have been used extensively in health disparities research, the quality of information concerning race, Hispanic ethnicity, and immigrant status has not been systematically evaluated. The quality of this information was determined by comparing SEER data with self-reported data among 13,538 cancer patients diagnosed between 1973-2001 in the SEER--National Longitudinal Mortality Study linked database. The overall agreement was excellent on race (kappa = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.88-0.91), moderate to substantial on Hispanic ethnicity (kappa = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.58-0.64), and low on immigrant status (kappa = 0.21. 95% CI = 0.10, 0.23). The effect of these disagreements was that SEER data tended to under-classify patient numbers when compared to self-identifications, except for the non-Hispanic group which was slightly over-classified. These disagreements translated into varying racial-, ethnic-, and immigrant status-specific cancer statistics, depending on whether self-reported or SEER data were used. In particular, the 5-year Kaplan-Meier survival and the median survival time from all causes for American Indians/Alaska Natives were substantially higher when based on self-classification (59% and 140 months, respectively) than when based on SEER classification (44% and 53 months, respectively), although the number of patients is small. These results can serve as a useful guide to researchers contemplating the use of population-based registry data to ascertain disparities in cancer burden. In particular, the study results caution against evaluating health disparities by using birthplace as a measure of immigrant status and race information for American Indians/Alaska Natives.

American Indian or Alaska Native↗

PubMed2005

Mental health of immigrants and refugees.

The United States is a country of immigrants. With the exception of Native-Americans, every other American is, or descends from, an immigrant. First and second generation immigrant children are the most rapidly growing segment of the American population, with the great majority of this population being of non-European origin. This paper reviews the unique risk factors and mental health needs of our new immigrant populations, as well as treatment and services approaches to address their unique needs.

Emigration and Immigration↗

PubMed2005

Uninsured working immigrants: a view from a California county.

We inform a county's efforts to provide health insurance to uninsured working immigrants-a group left out of national and state strategies that aim to expand coverage. We analyzed a population-based survey data administered in English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Vietnamese, and Dari on 5,540 nonelderly adult workers in Alameda County, California. The study models the likelihood of employment-based coverage, estimates the eligibility for public programs, and evaluates the affordability of average employee share of premiums by citizenship status and years lived in the United States (tenure). Immigrant workers in Alameda County are disproportionately uninsured. They constitute 29% of the employee labor force but 54% of uninsured employees. Employment-based coverage increased with citizenship and length of stay (tenure) in the United States. Noncitizens with less than 5 years residency in the United States faced the greatest disadvantage in securing employment-based coverage, an effect that is greater than disadvantages associated with race/ethnicity. A citizenship-tenure divide existed in obtaining employment-based coverage, suggesting that policies focusing on noncitizen and new immigrant workers would greatly relieve the disparate uninsured rates among workers. The expansion of nonemployment-based coverage programs would cover more than 30% of Alameda County's uninsured immigrant workers; but subsidies will also be needed for the lowest-income workers who are not eligible for these programs.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Implications of black immigrant health for U.S. racial disparities in health.

This paper contributes to a growing understanding of U.S. black-white health disparities by using national-level data to disaggregate the health status of black Americans into the following subgroups: U.S.-born blacks, black immigrants from Africa, black immigrants from the West Indies, and black immigrants from Europe. Using new data on the 2000 and 2001 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS), the authors compare the status of U.S.- and foreign-born blacks to that of U.S.-born whites on three measures of health. The analysis finds that U.S.-born and European-born blacks have worse self-rated health, higher odds of activity limitation, and higher odds of limitation due to hypertension compared to U.S.-born whites. In contrast, African-born blacks have better health than U.S.-born whites on all three measures, while West Indian-born blacks have poorer self-rated health and higher odds of limitation due to hypertension but lower odds of activity limitation. These findings suggest that grouping together foreign-born blacks misses important variations within this population. Rather than being uniform, the black immigrant health advantage varies by region of birth and by health status measure. The authors conclude by exploring the implications of these findings for researchers, health professionals, and public policy.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Parent refugee status, immigration stressors, and Southeast Asian youth violence.

PURPOSE: To assess the effects of parents' experience of traumatic events on violence among Southeast Asian and Chinese youth. The study examines independent effects of parents' refugee camp experiences and immigration stress on serious or family/partner violence among youth. Findings contribute evidence on the intergenerational effects of community-level trauma that can help policy makers better integrate family and community strategies to reduce youth violence. METHODS: Obtained cross-sectional, face-to-face interview data including peer delinquency, parental engagement, parental discipline, serious violence, and family/partner violence from a sample of 329 Chinese and Southeast Asian adolescents. Measures of socioeconomic status, refugee status, and immigration stressors were collected from their respective parents. Data were analyzed using LISREL 8.54 for structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Findings show that parents' refugee status facilitated serious violence, and was fully mediated by peer delinquency and parental engagement, but for Vietnamese only. Parents' refugee status was also significantly related to family/partner violence, and mediated by peer delinquency. This relationship was not observed among the other Asian ethnic groups. The immigration stress variable had no significant effects on either serious violence or family/partner violence. CONCLUSIONS: Refugee communities may not transform easily into stereotypical immigrant Asian communities characterized by little youth violence. Results suggest that the refugee process, as experienced second-hand through the children of refugees, has a strong effect on externally oriented violence (serious violence) and on family/partner violence for particular subgroups. Therefore, community-oriented policy makers should join social workers in developing programs to address youth violence in Southeast Asian families and communities. Findings have implications for other forms of community trauma such as natural disasters.

Adolescent↗