Mortality and morbidity are often used as indicators of health status. Mortality is a unique and final event that is clearly defined and measurable. Morbidity events refer to diseases and illnesses. Both of these indicators can be used to look at the immigrant health.
Assessing immigrant health in terms of mortality and morbidity is a complex issue for a number of reasons. First, there are major deficiencies in national health statistics. Often the immigrant population as recorded in the official statistical systems does not differentiate between naturalized immigrants, permanent residents, nonimmigrants (e.g., temporary workers, students, and visitors), and illegal immigrants. Second, immigrant populations are heterogeneous, not only in terms of national origin but also racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic composition, even from within the same country. Third, migration selectivity renders the interpretation of immigrant health problematic. Finally, due to limitations of data, it is...
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Abraído-Lanza, A. F., Chao, M. T., & Flórez, K. R. (2005). Do healthy behaviors decline with greater acculturation?: Implications for the Latino mortality paradox. Social Science & Medicine, 61, 1243–1255.
Kandula, N. R., Kersey, M., & Lurie, N. (2004). Assuring the health of immigrants: What the leading health indicators tell us. Annual Review of Public Health, 25, 357–376.
Palloni, A., & Arias, E. (2004). Paradox lost: Explaining the Hispanic adult mortality advantage. Demography, 41, 385–415.
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McKay, L., Macintyre, S., & Ellaway, A. (2003) Migration and health: A review of the international literature. Glasgow: MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, Occasional Paper No 12. Retrieved June 10, 2010, from http://www.sphsu.mrc.ac.uk/files/File/library/occasional/OP012.pdf. Accessed June 10, 2010.
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Sharma, R.K. (2012). Mortality and Morbidity. In: Loue, S., Sajatovic, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Immigrant Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5659-0_522
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