Mortalidad general y por causas en la población autóctona e inmigante en Andalucía

Objective: To compare mortality rates between immigrant and native-born residents of Andalusia between 2006 and 2010, and to characterize mortality by cause. Material and methods: The data consisted of deaths from mortality statistics by cause, and the aggregated populations registered in the lists of inhabitants by country of birth in the case of native-born individuals and immigrants (with immigrants grouped into six geographical areas of origin). Crude rates and age-standardized mortality rates (0-39, 40-65 and 65 years and above) were calculated by cause of death separately for men and women. Results: In the group aged 0-39 years, mortality due to external causes was higher in immigrants than in the native-born population, especially in African immigrants, with standardized rates of 142 and 145 deaths per 100,000 persons/year in women and men, respectively. Deaths due to maternal-related factors were particularly high among Africans. In the group aged 40-64 years, mortality rates were higher in immigrant women than in native-born women but were lower in immigrant men than in native-born men; in this age group, mortality was particularly high in African women and men from Europe and North America. In the group aged 65 years and over, mortality was higher in the native-born population of both genders than in immigrants due to cancer and cardiovascular disease. Conclusions: The differences in mortality between immigrants and native-born residents varied depending on age, gender, cause of death and birthplace. Notable findings were the higher mortality among elderly native-born residents, due to chronic degenerative diseases, and the high mortality in the Sub-Saharan population at younger ages due to accidents. (C) 2012 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved

Too heavy, too late: investigating perinatal health outcomes in immigrants residing in Spain. A cross-sectional study (2009-2011).

Studies have shown that immigrants residing in Spain have lower risks of delivering low birthweight (LBW) and preterm babies despite their socioeconomic disadvantages (the healthy migrant paradox). However, less is known about other important perinatal outcomes derived from birth weight and gestational age such as macrosomia and post-term birth. This paper aims to compare the main indicators related to birth weight and gestational age (LBW, macrosomia, preterm and post-term) for immigrants and Spaniards

Is it who you are or where you live? Community effects on net fertility at the onset of fertility decline: A multilevel analysis using Swedish micro-census data

This paper studies contextual effects on fertility at the onset of fertility decline in Sweden. We argue that the community exerts an influence on fertility when individuals belonging to a certain community are more similar to one another (within-area) in their reproductive behaviour than individuals living in another community (between-area). Our hypotheses are that community had a strong influence in the past but that it decreased over time as more individualistic values grew in importance. We expect that the community exerted a greater impact in the low socioeconomic groups as the elite were less constrained by proximity and, therefore, more exposed to new ideas crossing community borders. Using micro-census data from 1880, 1890, and 1900, we use multilevel analysis to estimate measures of intra-class correlation within areas. We measure net fertility by the number of own children under five living in the household to currently married women with their spouses present. Parish is used as proxy for community. Our results indicate that despite average differences in fertility across parishes, the correlation between individuals belonging to the same community is less than 2.5%, that is, only a negligible share of the number of children observed is attributable to true community effects. Contrary to our expectation, we do not find any substantial change over time. However, as expected, community has a greater impact in the low socioeconomic groups. Our findings suggest that it is who you are rather than where you live which explains fertility behaviour during the initial stages of the transitio

Exploring the 'Healthy Migrant Paradox' in Sweden. A Cross Sectional Study Focused on Perinatal Outcomes

Evidence shows that in some contexts immigrants have better health than natives in spite of coming from poorer socioeconomic contexts and of facing socioeconomic disadvantages in the host country. However, this is a country or origin- and outcome-specific phenomenon. This study compares different health outcomes derived from birthweight and gestational age among different migrant groups residing in Sweden. Cross-sectional study based on the Swedish Medical Birth Register for years 1987-1993. Multinomial regression models were performed to obtain crude and adjusted Odd Ratios and their 95 % Confidence Intervals. Overall, immigrants show a higher risk of LBW and preterm and a lower risk of macrosomia and post-term. Moreover, some groups performed worse than natives even in indicators at the two ends of the distribution. The healthy migrant paradox is also outcome-specific within different perinatal indicators and the selection explanation cannot fully account for this phenomenon

The quality of vital statistics for studying perinatal health: the spanish case

Background: Birthweight and gestational age are key indicators for perinatal health obtained through the birth certificate. Knowing the validity of birth certificate data is crucial when identifying needs and evaluating birth outcomes. In Spain, vital information is reported by parents and is not checked for consistency with any hospital document. Therefore, to perform a validation study and describe the variables associated with misreporting is essential to improve the quality of birth certificates. Methods: A database was created using birth information from hospital medical records that were individually linked with the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE) birth certificate files. Measures of reliability and validity were used to compare the data from the two sources. Logistic regression models were adjusted to model the odds of being misreported in birthweight and gestational age, controlling for relevant variables. Results: INE overestimated the prevalence of birthweight and gestational age. The degree of agreement between the two sources was good for most gestational age groups (Kappa = 0.74), very good for the very preterm (Kappa = 0.85) and very good also for all categories of birthweight (Kappa = 0.88). Misreporting was significantly higher among immigrants, unmarried mothers and girls. Being a preterm birth increased the odds of being declared with errors in gestational age; having low birthweight and missing information on gestational age were associated with misreporting birthweight. Conclusions: The reliability of INE information could be greatly improved if hospitals included birthweight and gestational age on the document provided to parents for registering the birth

Ethnic differences in asthma treatment among Swedish adolescents:A multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity

Adolescents with immigrant or ethnic minority background suffering from asthma receive on average less appropriate anti-asthmatic medication (AAM) than the majority population. However, those findings are based on analyses of differences between group averages which prevents our understanding of individual heterogeneity around the averages. Taking into account individual socioeconomic factors and medical needs, we performed multilevel analysis in order to evaluate if maternal country of birth (MCOB) accurately identifies adolescents with inappropriate AAM use

Revisiting the Healthy Migrant Paradox in Perinatal Health Outcomes Through a Scoping Review in a Recent Host Country.

Ample evidence shows that, in many developed countries, immigrants have similar or better perinatal health outcomes than natives despite facing socioeconomic disadvantages in the host country ("healthy migrant paradox" -HMP). This scoping review aims to: (1) summarize the literature on perinatal health among immigrants and natives in Spain and (2) examine whether there is evidence of the HMP in a context of recent migration. A total of 25 articles published between 1998 and 2014 were reviewed. Overall, we found evidence of the HMP in low birthweight and to a lesser extent in preterm, though the patterns vary by origin, but not in macrosomia and post-term. The results are consistent across settings, levels of adjustment, and birth year. Policies should be oriented towards identifying the modifiable risk factors leading to a higher risk of macrosomia and post-term among immigrants