Self-rated health and social capital in Iraqi immigrants to Sweden: The MEDIM population-based study

摘要

Objectives: Poor self-rated health is an estimator of quality of life and a predictor of mortality seldom studied in immigrant populations. This work aimed to study self-rated health in relation to social capital, socioeconomic status, lifestyle and comorbidity in immigrants from Iraq – one of the largest non-European immigrant group in Sweden today – and to compare it with the self-rated health of native Swedes. Design: The study was a cross-sectional population-based study conducted from 2010 to 2012 among citizens of Malm?, Sweden, aged 30–65 years and born in Iraq or Sweden. All participants underwent a health examination and answered questionnaires on self-rated health, social capital, comorbidity, lifestyle and socioeconomic status. Results: In total, 1348 Iraqis and 677 Swedes participated. Poor self-rated health was identified in 43.9% of Iraqis and 21.9% of native Swedes ( p p _(interaction)=0.024), independent of other risk factors connected to social capital, socioeconomic status, lifestyle or comorbidity. Conclusions: Although public health initiatives promoting social capital, socioeconomic status and comorbidity in immigrants are crucial, the excess risk of poor self-rated health in Iraqi women is not fully attributed to known risk factors for self-rated health, but remains to be further explored.