Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia.
PLoS One. 2023 May 18;18(5):e0285886. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285886. eCollection 2023.
Different barriers that hinder migrants' access to healthcare may have detrimental effect on health but also contribute to health inequalities. Given the lack of evidence on unmet healthcare needs among European migrant population, the study aimed to analyse the demographic, socio-economic and health-related patterning of unmet healthcare needs among migrants in Europe.
European Health Interview Survey data from 2013-2015 covering 26 countries was used to analyse associations of individual-level factors and unmet healthcare needs among migrants (n = 12,817). Prevalences and 95% confidence intervals for unmet healthcare needs were presented for geographical regions and countries. Associations between unmet healthcare needs and demographic, socio-economic, and health indicators were analysed using Poisson regression models.
The overall prevalence of unmet healthcare needs among migrants was 27.8% (95% CI 27.1-28.6) but the estimate varied substantially across geographical regions in Europe. Unmet healthcare needs due to cost or access were patterned by various demographic, socio-economic, and health-related indicators but higher prevalence of UHN were universally found for women, those with the lowest income, and poor health.
While the high level of unmet healthcare needs illustrate migrants' vulnerability to health risks, the regional variations in the prevalence estimates and individual-level predictors highlight the variations in national policies regarding migration and healthcare legislations and differences in welfare-systems across Europe in general.
阻碍移民获得医疗保健的各种障碍可能对健康产生不利影响，也会导致健康不平等。鉴于欧洲移民人群未满足的医疗需求缺乏证据，本研究旨在分析欧洲移民中未满足的医疗需求在人口统计学、社会经济和与健康相关方面的模式。
使用涵盖 26 个国家的 2013-2015 年欧洲健康访谈调查数据，分析个人因素与移民未满足的医疗需求之间的关联（n=12817）。呈现了地理区域和国家中未满足的医疗需求的流行率和 95%置信区间。使用泊松回归模型分析未满足的医疗需求与人口统计学、社会经济和健康指标之间的关联。
移民中未满足医疗需求的总体流行率为 27.8%（95%CI 27.1-28.6），但在欧洲的地理区域之间存在很大差异。由于费用或获取途径而导致的未满足医疗需求与各种人口统计学、社会经济和与健康相关的指标有关，但普遍发现女性、收入最低和健康状况较差的人未满足医疗需求的比例更高。
尽管高水平的未满足医疗需求表明移民容易受到健康风险的影响，但流行率的区域差异和个体水平的预测因素突出了欧洲各国移民和医疗立法政策以及整个欧洲福利制度的差异。
