Volume 34 - Article 22 | Pages 615–656  

Differences in all-cause mortality: A comparison between immigrants and the host population in Norway 1990-2012

By Astri Syse, Bjorn H. Strand, Oyvind Naess, Ólöf Anna Steingrímsdóttir, Bernadette N. Kumar

Abstract

Background: Differences in all-cause mortality between immigrants and host populations may provide insight into health inequities that could be reduced.

Objective: Death risks of adult immigrants were compared to those of the host population to assess effects of country of origin, duration of residence, calendar period, and sociodemographic characteristics, i.e., sex, education, and marital and parental status.

Methods: Registry data encompassing the entire Norwegian population age 25-79 in 1990-2012 were used to compare death risks in various immigrant groups and the host population, using discrete-time hazard regression models with time-varying covariates.

Results: Over 451,000 deaths occurred in around 4.4 million individuals. After adjusting for sex, age, and calendar period, immigrants had an 8% survival advantage (odds ratio (OR) 0.92). Death-risk estimates for immigrants were lowered pronouncedly by further adjustment of sociodemographic factors (OR 0.81). The greatest survival advantage was observed among immigrants with a short duration of residence. With increasing lengths of stay, immigrants’ risk of death became similar to that of the host population. The survival advantage was most pronounced for younger, unmarried, and childless immigrants. Although the survival of Central and Eastern European immigrants improved over time, none of the groups had a higher adjusted death risk than the host population.

Conclusions: Immigrants have a 20% survival advantage compared to the host population. The convergence in mortality with increasing duration of residence suggests that ‘healthy migrant’ and ‘acculturation’ effects counteract each other, and warrants further research on the health and welfare of long-term immigrants.

Author's Affiliation

• Astri Syse - Folkehelseinstituttet (Norwegian Institute of Public Health), Norway EMAIL
• Bjorn H. Strand - Folkehelseinstituttet (Norwegian Institute of Public Health), Norway EMAIL
• Oyvind Naess - Folkehelseinstituttet (Norwegian Institute of Public Health), Norway EMAIL
• Ólöf Anna Steingrímsdóttir - Folkehelseinstituttet (Norwegian Institute of Public Health), Norway EMAIL
• Bernadette N. Kumar - Nasjonal Kompetanseenhet for Migrasjons- og Minoritetshelse (NAKMI), Norway EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Does cancer affect the divorce rate?
Volume 16 - Article 15

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

The influence of parental cancer on the mental health of children and young adults: Evidence from Norwegian register data on healthcare consultations
Volume 50 - Article 27    | Keywords: cancer, children, fixed effects, longitudinal, mental health, parents registers

The importance of education for understanding variability of dementia onset in the United States
Volume 50 - Article 26    | Keywords: dementia, education, lifespan variability, modal age, morbidity compression

Differences in mortality before retirement: The role of living arrangements and marital status in Denmark
Volume 50 - Article 20    | Keywords: inequalities, living arrangements, marital status, mortality, retirement

Racial classification as a multistate process
Volume 50 - Article 17    | Keywords: Brazil, demography, increments to life, life expectancy, life table, mortality, multistate, race/ethnicity

Losing the female survival advantage: Sex differentials in infant and child mortality in Pakistan
Volume 50 - Article 15    | Keywords: child mortality, family, gender discrimination, Pakistan, sex differentials, son preference, South Asia, survival analysis