Trends and disparities in socioeconomic and behavioural characteristics, life expectancy, and cause-specific mortality of native-born and foreign-born populations in the United States, 1979–2003

摘要

Background Immigrants are a growing segment of the US population. In 2003, there were 33.5 million immigrants, accounting for 12% of the total US population. Despite a rapid increase in their numbers, little information exists as to how immigrants' health and mortality profile has changed over time. In this study, we analysed trends in social and behavioural characteristics, life expectancy, and mortality patterns of immigrants and the US-born from 1979 to 2003.