Country of Birth, Country of Residence, and Multimorbidity

Meaghan Woody, Emory University
Solveig A Cunningham , Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute and Emory University

Health and disease are believed to be intertwined with contextual circumstances and early life experiences. Examining the health of migrants can bring new understanding to the role of place in shaping health. We investigate the prevalence of chronic disease with a focus on multimorbidity - the presence of two or more chronic diseases concurrently. The overarching goal is to determine whether country of origin or country of current residence is the more important factor in health. We used the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a cross-national panel survey of individuals aged 50 years and older (n=112,612 native-born and 11,266 foreign-born in 2002-2017). Self-reported chronic conditions used to define multimorbidity were: heart attack, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, stroke, diabetes, chronic lung disease, cancer, stomach ulcer, Parkinson’s disease, cataracts, and hip fracture. We used multinomial logistic regression models. 37.65% of migrants and 35.10% of native-born individuals reported multiple conditions. Compared to native-born people, multimorbidity was higher among migrants born in Eastern Europe (OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.31, 1.52) and Central and West Asia (OR: 1.16, 95% CI: 0.96, 1.40), and lowest among migrants born in Southeast, South, and East Asia (OR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.51, 0.87). Foreign-born people from Africa and from other European countries living in Northern Europe, and foreign-born Europeans living in Eastern Europe had lower odds of multimorbidity than native-born people living in the same region. Country of birth and country of residence are each associated with multimorbidity.

See paper

 Presented in Session 30. Migrant Health