Islam Farah, Khanlou Nazilla, Tamim Hala
School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, 357 Bethune College mailroom, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada.
BMC Psychiatry. 2014 May 26;14:154. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-14-154.
South Asian populations are the largest visible minority group in Canada; however, there is very little information on the mental health of these populations. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence rates and characteristics of mental health outcomes for South Asian first-generation immigrant and second-generation Canadian-born populations.
The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 2011 was used to calculate the estimated prevalence rates of the following mental health outcomes: mood disorders, anxiety disorders, fair-poor self-perceived mental health status, and extremely stressful life stress. The characteristics associated with these four mental health outcomes were determined through multivariate logistic regression analysis of merged CCHS 2007-2011 data.
South Asian Canadian-born (3.5%, 95% CI 3.4-3.6%) and South Asian immigrant populations (3.5%, 95% CI 3.5-3.5%) did not vary significantly in estimated prevalence rates of mood disorders. However, South Asian immigrants experienced higher estimated prevalence rates of diagnosed anxiety disorders (3.4%, 95% CI 3.4-3.5 vs. 1.1%, 95% CI 1.1-1.1%) and self-reported extremely stressful life stress (2.6%, 95% CI 2.6-2.7% vs. 2.4%, 95% CI 2.3-2.4%) compared to their Canadian-born counterparts. Lastly, South Asian Canadian-born populations had a higher estimated prevalence rate of poor-fair self-perceived mental health status (4.4%, 95% CI 4.3-4.5%) compared to their immigrant counterparts (3.4%, 95% CI 3.3-3.4%). Different profiles of mental health determinants emerged for South Asian Canadian-born and immigrant populations. Female gender, having no children under the age of 12 in the household, food insecurity, poor-fair self-rated health status, being a current smoker, immigrating to Canada before adulthood, and taking the CCHS survey in either English or French was associated with greater risk of negative mental health outcomes for South Asian immigrant populations, while not being currently employed, having a regular medical doctor, and inactive physical activity level were associated with greater risk for South Asian Canadian-born populations.
Mental health outreach programs need to be cognizant of the differences in prevalence rates and characteristics of mental health outcomes for South Asian immigrant and Canadian-born populations to better tailor mental health services to be responsive to the unique mental health needs of South Asian populations in Canada.
南亚人群是加拿大最大的可见少数族裔群体；然而，关于这些人群心理健康的信息非常少。本研究的目的是确定南亚第一代移民和第二代加拿大出生人群心理健康结果的患病率及特征。
使用2011年加拿大社区健康调查（CCHS）来计算以下心理健康结果的估计患病率：情绪障碍、焦虑症、自我感觉心理健康状况一般至较差，以及生活压力极大。通过对2007 - 2011年合并的CCHS数据进行多变量逻辑回归分析，确定与这四种心理健康结果相关的特征。
加拿大出生的南亚人群（3.5%，95%可信区间3.4 - 3.6%）和南亚移民人群（3.5%，95%可信区间3.5 - 3.5%）在情绪障碍估计患病率上没有显著差异。然而，与加拿大出生的南亚人群相比，南亚移民被诊断出的焦虑症估计患病率更高（3.4%，95%可信区间3.4 - 3.5%对1.1%，95%可信区间1.1 - 1.1%），且自我报告生活压力极大的比例更高（2.6%，95%可信区间2.6 - 2.7%对2.4%，95%可信区间2.3 - 2.4%）。最后，加拿大出生的南亚人群自我感觉心理健康状况一般至较差的估计患病率（4.4%，95%可信区间4.3 - 4.5%）高于其移民 counterparts（3.4%，95%可信区间3.3 - 3.4%）。加拿大出生的南亚人群和移民人群出现了不同的心理健康决定因素概况。女性、家中没有12岁以下子女、粮食不安全、自我健康评分一般至较差、目前吸烟、成年前移民到加拿大以及以英语或法语参加CCHS调查，与南亚移民人群出现负面心理健康结果的风险较高相关，而目前未就业、有固定的医生以及身体活动水平不活跃与加拿大出生的南亚人群风险较高相关。
心理健康推广项目需要认识到南亚移民和加拿大出生人群在心理健康结果患病率及特征上的差异，以便更好地调整心理健康服务，以满足加拿大南亚人群独特的心理健康需求。
