Research Article

Self-Reported Health of Working-Age Refugees, Immigrants, and the Canadian-Born

Table 1

Sample characteristics and adjusted odds ratios (OR) of good physical health by migrant status (n = 17, 082).

Canadian-born (%)Refugee (%)Immigrant (%)Chi-squareFully adjusted modelvalue
(n = 11,266)(n = 753)(n = 5,063) ValueOR (95% CI)

Health outcomes
 Physical health
  Poor/fair8.39.68.30.70
  Good/very good/excellent91.790.491.7

Demographics
Migrant status
  Refugee (ref.)1.00
  Canadian-born0.92 (0.60, 1.42)0.72
  Immigrant0.88 (0.59, 1.33)0.55

 Visible minority status
  Not a visible minority (ref.)94.123.737.21.00
  Visible minority5.976.362.8<0.0010.93 (0.75, 1.15)0.48

Sex
  Male (ref.)50.358.648.21.00
  Female49.741.451.80.0010.99 (0.88, 1.11)0.83

Age
  45–64 (ref.)40.151.743.21.00
  15–4459.948.356.8<0.0012.38 (2.09, 2.70)<0.001

Socioeconomic status
Education
  High school diploma or below (ref.)41.037.825.0<0.0011.00
  More than a high school degree59.062.275.01.44 (1.27, 1.62)<0.001

Total household income in the past year
  $49,999 and below (ref.)17.635.922.4<0.0011.00
  $50,000–$99,99929.930.532.01.51 (1.30, 1.77)<0.001
  $100,000 or more37.117.730.22.00 (1.69, 2.36)<0.001
  Missing/refused/did not know15.415.915.41.71 (1.42, 2.05)<0.001

Marital status
  Single/widowed/divorced/separated (ref.)42.029.728.5<0.0011.00
  Married/common-law58.070.371.50.95 (0.83, 1.08)0.44

Presence of a confidant
  No confidant (ref.)2.55.74.1<0.0011.00
  1 or more confidants97.594.395.91.25 (0.93, 1.67)0.14

Social trust
  Hesitant to trust people (ref.)45.458.345.0<0.0011.00
  Believes most people can be trusted54.641.755.01.56 (1.38, 1.77)<0.001

Involvement with social groups/organizations/associations in the past 12 months
  None (ref.)30.744.735.0<0.0011.00
  1 or more69.355.365.01.38 (1.22, 1.56)<.001

Experience of discrimination of any form for any reason in Canada in the past 5 years
  Yes (ref.)31.938.439.91.00
  No68.161.660.1<0.0011.81 (1.60, 2.05)<0.001

Speaks English or French at home most often
  Other languages (ref.)4.865.254.8<0.0011.00
  English or French95.234.845.20.79 (0.64, 0.98)0.03

% of friends contacted in the past month with the same mother tongue
  Less than half (ref)4.536.323.5<0.0011.0 (Ref)0.02
  Half or more95.563.776.51.28 (1.04, 1.58)

 % of friends contacted in the past month that were of a visibly different ethnicity0.69
  Less than half86.563.766.8<0.0010.97 (0.82, 1.14)
  Half or more (ref)13.536.333.21.0 (ref)

Sense of belonging to Canada
  Very strong60.871.862.4<0.0011.03 (0.92, 1.17)0.060
  Somewhat strong to very weak (ref.)39.228.237.61.00

Self-reported mental health
  Fair/poor (ref.)6.25.14.61.00
  Good/very good/excellent93.894.995.40.0029.12 (7.8, 10.6)<0.001

Place of birth of respondent (for those born outside Canada)
  Americas (ref.)021.915.5
  Europe019.528.2
  Africa019.89.9
  Asia038.945.4
  Oceania001.0<0.001

 Hosmer and Lemeshow testChi-square = 12.9, df = 8p = 0.11

 Nagelkerke R square0.19