Immigrant and Racialized Populations’ Cumulative Exposure to Discrimination and Associations with Long-Term Conditions During COVID-19: A Nationwide Large-Scale Study in Canada

Abstract

Background This cross-sectional study examines associations between the race-migration nexus, cumulative exposure to intersectional discrimination (2 years before and during the COVID-19 pandemic), and long-term conditions. Methods A nationwide self-selected sample (n = 32,605) was obtained from a Statistics Canada’s Crowdsourcing online survey from August 4 to 24, 2020. Binary and multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine disparities by the race-migration nexus in accumulative experiences of multiple situations- and identity-based discrimination and their relations with long-term conditions, after controlling for sociodemographic covariates. Results During the pandemic, discrimination stemming from racialization — such as race/skin color (24.4% vs 20.1%) and ethnicity/culture (18.5% vs 16.5%) — and cyberspace (34.1% vs 29.8%) exaggerated relative to pre-pandemic period; compared to Canadian-born (CB) whites, the likelihood of experiencing multiple discrimination increased alongside the domains of discrimination being additively intersected (e.g., identity-based, all p’s < 0.001) among CB racialized minorities (ORs 2.08 to 11.78), foreign-born (FB) racialized minorities (ORs 1.99 to 12.72), and Indigenous populations (ORs 1.62 to 8.17), except for FB whites (p > 0.01); dose-response relationships were found between cumulative exposure to multiple discrimination and odds of reporting long-term conditions (p’s < 0.001), including seeing (ORs 1.63 to 2.99), hearing (ORs 1.83 to 4.45), physical (ORs 1.66 to 3.87), cognitive (ORs 1.81 to 3.79), and mental health–related impairments (ORs 1.82 to 3.41). Conclusions Despite a universal health system, Canadians who are CB/FB racialized and Indigenous populations, have a higher prevalence of cumulative exposure to different aspects of discrimination that are associated with multiple long-term conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Equity-driven solutions are needed to tackle upstream determinants of health inequalities through uprooting intersectional discrimination faced by racialized and immigrant communities.