Immigrants’ mental health service use compared to that of native Finns: a register study

Kieseppä, Valentina; Holm, Minna; Jokela, Markus; Suvisaari, Jaana; Gissler, Mika; Markkula, Niina

doi:10.1007/s00127-019-01774-y

Cited by 27 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…In the Danish context specifically, significantly less use of psychiatric services has been documented among refugee boys and girls compared with Danish‐born children (50). Similar patterns have been observed in Norway (46) and Finland (51) among young refugees and immigrants. In Sweden, a study also found lower use among children whose parents originated from lower‐ and middle‐income countries (48).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Risk of psychiatric diagnoses in children and adolescents of parents with torture trauma and war trauma

Bager

Agerbo

Skipper

et al. 2020

Acta Psychiatr Scand

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TM. Risk of psychiatric diagnoses in children and adolescents of parents with torture trauma and war trauma. Objective: Evidence point to intergenerational effects of trauma in refugee populations. This study estimates the risk of psychiatric diagnoses in children of severely traumatized refugees. The unique clinical sample consisted of refugee parents treated for torture trauma and war trauma, and outcomes were investigated using population-level data. Method: A nationwide register study, following all children residing in Denmark. The exposure was parental torture trauma and war trauma, and outcomes were any psychiatric disorder, mood, neurotic, behavioural and emotional disorders and disorders of psychological development. Children's hazard of being diagnosed was estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression. Study participants were followed from the date of birth or immigration to their 18th birthday. Results: The cohort included 3 346 993 children of which 19 294 were identified as offspring to traumatized refugees. During the study period, 205 610 children were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. Children with parents from the Middle East and Northern Africa had a hazard ratio of 0.78 (95% CI: 0.72, 0.84) for those treated for parental trauma and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.76, 0.81) for those not treated compared with children of non-traumatized Danish-born parents. For children of parents from former Yugoslavia, the corresponding estimates were 0.69 (95% CI: 0.58, 0.81) and 0.69 (95% CI: 0.65, 0.73). Conclusion: The results suggest that children of parents with and without registered torture trauma and war trauma have a lower risk of being diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder compared to children of Danish-born parents. These findings contradict research done on the transmission of trauma but supports evidence suggesting mental health services underutilization by refugee and ethnic minority populations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Risk of psychiatric diagnoses in children and adolescents of parents with torture trauma and war trauma

Bager

Agerbo

Skipper

et al. 2020

Acta Psychiatr Scand

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“…The results further confirm that migrant background is an independent determinant of health care use [8,9]. Interestingly, the difference between migrant groups and the general population in patterns of use was clear also when restricting the analysis to migrants who have stayed in Finland for at least 15 years, in contrast with finding that immigrants' treatment patterns would converge to those of the general population the longer they lived in Finland [66]. Previously, elderly Somalis have been demonstrated to use GP services at municipal health centers substantially more (90%) than native elderly Finns (34%) [67].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Use of Health Services and Unmet Need among Adults of Russian, Somali, and Kurdish Origin in Finland

Çilenti

Rask

Elovainio

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Equal access to health care is one of the key policy priorities in many European societies. Previous findings suggest that there may be wide differences in the use of health services between people of migrant origin and the general population. We analyzed cross-sectional data from a random sample of persons of Russian (n = 692), Somali (n = 489), and Kurdish (n = 614) origin and the Health 2011 survey data (n = 1406) representing the general population in Finland. Having at least one outpatient visit to any medical doctor during the previous 12 months was at the same level for groups of Russian and Kurdish origin, but lower for people of Somali origin, compared with the general population. Clear differences were found when examining where health care services were sought: people of migrant origin predominantly visited a doctor at municipal health centers whereas the general population also used private and occupational health care. Self-reported need for doctor’s treatment was especially high among Russian women and Kurdish men and women. Compared to the general population, all migrant origin groups reported much higher levels of unmet medical need and were less satisfied with the treatment they had received. Improving basic-level health services would serve besides the population at large, the wellbeing of the population of migrant origin.

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“…A register-based cohort study from Finland demonstrated that while the incidence and prevalence of mental disorders were overall lower among migrants compared with the native Finnish population, large risk differences emerged when examined by migrant origin and mental disorder group [ 19 ]. In addition, a recent register-based study in Finland showed less mental health service use among migrants than native Finnish controls, and that migrants from Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa have the highest risk of receiving low-intensity treatment [ 20 ]. Based on these separate studies, there appears to be a discrepancy between the observed high prevalence of mental health problems and the infrequent use of mental health services among people of migrant origin in Finland.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migrants Are Underrepresented in Mental Health and Rehabilitation Services—Survey and Register-Based Findings of Russian, Somali, and Kurdish Origin Adults in Finland

Castaneda

Çilenti

Rask

et al. 2020

IJERPH

Self Cite

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Mounting evidence suggests that migration background increases the risk of mental ill health, but that problems exist in accessing healthcare services in people of migrant origin. The present study uses a combination of register- and survey-based data to examine mental health-related health service use in three migrant origin populations as well as the correspondence between the need and use of services. The data are from the Finnish Migrant Health and Wellbeing Study (Maamu), a comprehensive cross-sectional interview and a health examination survey. A random sample consisted of 5909 working-aged adults of Russian, Somali, and Kurdish origin of which 3000 were invited to participate in the survey and the rest were drawn for a register-based approach. Some of the mental health services, based on registers, were more prevalent in the Kurdish origin group in comparison with the general population and less prevalent in the Russian and Somali origin groups. All the migrant origin groups were underrepresented in rehabilitation services. When affective symptoms were taken into account, all the migrant origin groups were underrepresented in all of the services. This calls for actions to promote mental health, diminish the barriers to access services, and improve the service paths for migrants.

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Immigrants’ mental health service use compared to that of native Finns: a register study

Cited by 27 publications

References 43 publications

Risk of psychiatric diagnoses in children and adolescents of parents with torture trauma and war trauma

Risk of psychiatric diagnoses in children and adolescents of parents with torture trauma and war trauma

Use of Health Services and Unmet Need among Adults of Russian, Somali, and Kurdish Origin in Finland

Migrants Are Underrepresented in Mental Health and Rehabilitation Services—Survey and Register-Based Findings of Russian, Somali, and Kurdish Origin Adults in Finland

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