The Burden of Culture? Health Outcomes Among Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in the United States

Abstract

Immigrants in the U.S. often experience better health than the native-born, and many explanations for this phenomenon center around the positive health behaviors that immigrants bring from their home cultures. Immigrants from the former Soviet Union may be an exception; because they come from societies where unhealthy lifestyles and high mortality are common, they are often expected to experience worse health than the native population. Using data from the Integrated Health Interview Series, I compare FSU immigrants with U.S.-born, non-Hispanic whites on several health measures. FSU immigrants are twice as likely as native whites to report fair or poor health, but they are less likely to smoke or drink, and are less likely to report a functional limitation. FSU immigrants' advantage in functional limitation is largely explained by their very high levels of education and marriage, indicating that selectivity is important to understanding the health of this population.

International Perspective on Health Literacy and Health Equity: Factors That Influence the Former Soviet Union Immigrants

“…Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health conditions appear to be prevalent in this group. Among various factors, health status before emigration and degree of acculturation in the host country could contribute to the poorer health and higher disability of FSU immigrants compared to the native-born population in all three countries [29][30][31][32][33][34]. In Germany, FSU immigrants have higher rates of obesity and metabolic syndrome compared to the native-born population [61].…”

“…These issues can be more challenging for older FSU immigrants who often have more disabilities in comparison to the native-born USA population [32] and may have more difficulty integrating and finding employment. In 2010, before the ACA, almost a quarter (23.2%) of FSU immigrants were reported to have no health insurance compared to 14% of the native-born population [31].…”

“…The majority migrate with educational attainment higher than the native-born populations of the USA [26], Germany [27], and Israel [28]. Nevertheless, FSU immigrants report their health to be poor or fair more frequently than native-born populations in the USA, European countries including Germany, and in Israel [29][30][31][32][33][34].…”

The social production of substance abuse and HIV/HCV risk: an exploratory study of opioid-using immigrants from the former Soviet Union living in New York City

“…Thus, it appears as though FSU immigrants may represent an exception to the dominant "healthy migrant effect" [5] according to which lower levels of health-related risk behaviors, including substance use, have been observed among a variety of U.S.-based immigrant groups as compared to native-born populations [c.f. [9-11]].…”

Qualitative Interviews of Romanian Key Informants Guiding a Preliminary Health Needs Assessment of Romanian Immigrants in Southern California

“…This may be due, in part, to the fact that some high-risk populations become aggregated into the broad category of "White/Caucasian" thus obscuring their unique health profile. For example, when looking at epidemiological literature specific to Eastern European health, there have been a number of serious health risks and disproportionate mortality patterns compared to other "White/Caucasian" populations that have been documented (Nasseri, 2008;Hofmann, 2012). In another example, researchers found that Romania has the highest cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates in the European Union, indicating lower rates of screening and HPV vaccination behaviors, despite HPV immunization campaigns launched by the Romanian Ministry of Health in 2008 and 2009 throughout the country (Craciun & Baban, 2012;World Health Organization, 2010).…”