Long-term health conditions among Australian-born and Eastern Mediterranean region-born populations of Australia
Davoud Pourmarzi A * and Tehzeeb Zulfiqar AA
Abstract
To investigate the prevalence of 10 long-term health conditions in the Australian-born and Eastern Mediterranean region (EMRO)-born populations of Australia.
Using the 2021 Australia census we calculated age-specific and sex-specific prevalence, age-standardised prevalence (ASP), and age-standardised prevalence ratio (ASPR) of 10 conditions. For EMRO-born people who had a health condition, we reported English proficiency, education, income and years lived in Australia.
Australian-born and EMRO-born individuals had a similar ASP of heart disease (3.2% in men, 1.8% in women) and stroke (0.7% in men and 0.5% in women). There were small differences between the two groups in terms of the ASP of arthritis (ASPR: 0.9) and kidney disease (ASPR: 1.1) in women and dementia (ASPR: 1.1) in men. For EMRO-born compared with Australian-born individuals, the ASPs of asthma (ASPR women and men: 0.4), cancer (ASPR women: 0.6, men: 0.5), lung conditions (ASPR women: 0.4, men: 0.5), and mental health conditions (ASPR women and men: 0.4) were lower, and the ASP of diabetes (ASPR women: 1.8, men: 1.7) was higher. For men, the ASP of arthritis (ASPR: 0.6) was lower, and the ASP of kidney disease (ASPR: 1.4) was higher in EMRO-born individuals. For women, the ASP of dementia (ASPR: 1.4) was higher in EMRO-born individuals. EMRO-born individuals who arrived in Australia ≥10 years ago, at the time of the census, compared with those who arrived <10 years ago had a higher ASP of arthritis, asthma, cancer and lung and mental health conditions; a lower ASP of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and dementia; and the same ASP of diabetes. Depending on the long-term conditions, 24.1–53.5% of EMRO-born individuals had low English proficiency, 9.4–23.8% did not go to school, and 51.7–89% had a weekly income (in Australian dollars) <A$500.
To promote health equity, prevention and management strategies for long-term health conditions based on the health needs of migrants are needed.
Keywords: acculturation, cardiovascular disease, chronic disease, health equity, health planning, migrant, multicultural health, refugee.
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