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Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Published in: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 2/2012

01-04-2012 | Brief Communication

Health Insurance Moderates the Association Between Immigrant Length of Stay and Health Status

Authors: Sunmin Lee, Allison O’Neill, Julie Park, Lynn Scully, Edmond Shenassa

Published in: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health | Issue 2/2012

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Abstract

Previous studies reported that immigrants’ health worsens with acculturation to US lifestyle; however, role of health insurance has not been investigated. We used cross-sectional National Immigrant Survey (n = 6,381) to examine the potential moderating effect of health insurance on the association between time in the US and self reported changes in health (comparing health status before and after immigration) and current health status. Separate logistic regression models were fit to assess these associations among insured and uninsured immigrants, adjusting for covariates. Among uninsured immigrants there was a stronger negative association between length of stay and health, compared to immigrants with health insurance. Insured immigrants were almost two times more likely than uninsured immigrants to have received preventive screenings, such as a Pap smear or prostate exam. This suggests that health insurance may somewhat attenuate this association, and is an important resource for US immigrants.
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Metadata
Title
Health Insurance Moderates the Association Between Immigrant Length of Stay and Health Status
Authors
Sunmin Lee
Allison O’Neill
Julie Park
Lynn Scully
Edmond Shenassa
Publication date
01-04-2012
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health / Issue 2/2012
Print ISSN: 1557-1912
Electronic ISSN: 1557-1920
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-010-9411-z

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