Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
Date Submitted: Sep 16, 2021
Open Peer Review Period: Sep 16, 2021 - Sep 30, 2021
Date Accepted: Oct 11, 2022
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Comprehensive comparisons of family health between families with one immigrant parent and native families in Taiwan: A nationwide population-based cohort study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Mothers and children of transnational marriage immigrant families have been reported to be healthier than those of native families; however, fathers of these families was rarely discussed.
Objective:
We aimed to comprehensively compare family health between transnational marriage immigrant families and native families.
Methods:
We used the Taiwan Maternal and Child Health Database from 2004 to 2016 to identify 90,670 fathers, 91,270 mothers and 132,457 children of transnational marriage immigrant families and 1,666,775 fathers, 1,734,104 mothers and 2,637,191 children of native families and followed them from 2004 to 2017. The outcomes comprised common physical and mental disorders, catastrophic illness, mortality, and child adversities and accidents. Covariates comprised child year of birth, parental age, low-income status, and physical or mental disorder status. To compare the risks of outcomes between transnational marriage immigrant families and native families, logistic regression was conducted.
Results:
The parents of transnational marriage immigrant families were older than the parents of native families, and these families were more likely to be of low-income status. After adjusting for covariates, fathers of transnational marriage immigrant families had higher risks of physical and mental disorders, catastrophic illness, and mortality than fathers of native families. Conversely, mothers of transnational marriage immigrant families had lower risks of physical and mental disorders, catastrophic illness, and mortality. Finally, children of transnational marriage immigrant families generally had better physical and mental health but higher risks for leukemia, liver diseases, autism spectrum disorder, and road traffic accidents.
Conclusions:
The family health between members of transnational marriage immigrant families was nonhomogeneous, and the poorer general health in fathers of transnational marriage immigrant families suggests health inequalities in transnational marriage immigrant families.
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