TY - JOUR
KW - Adolescent
KW - Adult
KW - Aged
KW - Emigrants and Immigrants
KW - Female
KW - Health Services Accessibility
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Mental Disorders/therapy
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Norway
KW - Primary Health Care/utilization
KW - Registries
AU - M. Straiton
AU - A. Reneflot
AU - E. Diaz
A1 - 
AB - BACKGROUND: Equity in health care across all social groups is a major goal in health care policy. Immigrants may experience more mental health problems than natives, but we do not know the extent to which they seek help from primary health care services. This study aimed to determine a) the rate immigrants use primary health care services for mental health problems compared with Norwegians and b) the association between length of stay, reason for immigration and service use among immigrants. METHODS: National register data covering all residents in Norway and all consultations with primary health care services were used. We conducted logistic regression analyses to compare Norwegians' with Polish, Swedish, German, Pakistani and Iraqi immigrants' odds of having had a consultation for a mental health problem (P-consultation). RESULTS: After accounting for background variables, all immigrants groups, except Iraqi men had lower odds of a P-consultation than their Norwegian counterparts. A shorter length of stay was associated with lower odds of a P-consultation. CONCLUSIONS: Service use varies by country of origin and patterns are different for men and women. There was some evidence of a possible 'healthy migrant worker' effect among the European groups. Together with previous research, our findings however, suggest that Iraqi women and Pakistanis in particular, may experience barriers in accessing care for mental health problems.
BT - BMC health services research
C5 - Healthcare Disparities
CY - England
DO - 10.1186/1472-6963-14-341
JF - BMC health services research
N2 - BACKGROUND: Equity in health care across all social groups is a major goal in health care policy. Immigrants may experience more mental health problems than natives, but we do not know the extent to which they seek help from primary health care services. This study aimed to determine a) the rate immigrants use primary health care services for mental health problems compared with Norwegians and b) the association between length of stay, reason for immigration and service use among immigrants. METHODS: National register data covering all residents in Norway and all consultations with primary health care services were used. We conducted logistic regression analyses to compare Norwegians' with Polish, Swedish, German, Pakistani and Iraqi immigrants' odds of having had a consultation for a mental health problem (P-consultation). RESULTS: After accounting for background variables, all immigrants groups, except Iraqi men had lower odds of a P-consultation than their Norwegian counterparts. A shorter length of stay was associated with lower odds of a P-consultation. CONCLUSIONS: Service use varies by country of origin and patterns are different for men and women. There was some evidence of a possible 'healthy migrant worker' effect among the European groups. Together with previous research, our findings however, suggest that Iraqi women and Pakistanis in particular, may experience barriers in accessing care for mental health problems.
PP - England
PY - 2014
SN - 1472-6963; 1472-6963
SP - 341
T1 - Immigrants' use of primary health care services for mental health problems
T2 - BMC health services research
TI - Immigrants' use of primary health care services for mental health problems
U1 - Healthcare Disparities
U2 - 25127890
U3 - 10.1186/1472-6963-14-341
VL - 14
VO - 1472-6963; 1472-6963
Y1 - 2014
ER -