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A comparison of the health status and health care utilisation patterns between foreigners and the national population in Spain: new evidence from the Spanish National Health Survey

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  • Hernández Quevedo, C
  • Jiménez Rubio, D

Abstract

The reduction of inequalities in health and in the access to health services is one of the main objectives in any health care system. Various studies have analysed the existence of inequalities in health and in the use of health care for the Spanish population. However, the empirical evidence for the immigrant collective on this issue is as yet insufficient. This working paper aims to provide evidence on inequalities in health and in the access to health services for the immigrant population living in Spain, relative to that of the autochthonous population, by using the 2003 and 2006 Spanish National Health Survey. After using a pooled ordered probit for a measure of self-assessed health and pooled probit models for several utilisation variables, our results show that there are different patterns in health status and utilisation of health care between nationals and immigrants in Spain. Immigrants report better levels of health status than Spaniards, although they face barriers of entry to health care services. Health policies should focus on reducing legal, cultural and administrative barriers to access health services.

Suggested Citation

  • Hernández Quevedo, C & Jiménez Rubio, D, 2008. "A comparison of the health status and health care utilisation patterns between foreigners and the national population in Spain: new evidence from the Spanish National Health Survey," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 08/22, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
  • Handle: RePEc:yor:hectdg:08/22
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    Cited by:

    1. Rebeca Terraza-Núñez & M. Vázquez & Ingrid Vargas & Tona Lizana, 2011. "Health professional perceptions regarding healthcare provision to immigrants in Catalonia," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 56(5), pages 549-557, October.
    2. Miguel Á Salinero-Fort & Rodrigo Jiménez-García & Laura del Otero-Sanz & Carmen de Burgos-Lunar & Rosa M Chico-Moraleja & Carmen Martín-Madrazo & Paloma Gómez-Campelo & on behalf of The Health & Immig, 2012. "Self-Reported Health Status in Primary Health Care: The Influence of Immigration and Other Associated Factors," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(6), pages 1-10, June.
    3. Marianne Schoevers & Maartje Loeffen & Maria Muijsenbergh & Antoine Lagro-Janssen, 2010. "Health care utilisation and problems in accessing health care of female undocumented immigrants in the Netherlands," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 55(5), pages 421-428, October.
    4. Belén Sanz & Enrique Regidor & Silvia Galindo & Cruz Pascual & Lourdes Lostao & José Díaz & Elisabeth Sánchez, 2011. "Pattern of health services use by immigrants from different regions of the world residing in Spain," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 56(5), pages 567-576, October.
    5. Alessio Petrelli & Anteo Di Napoli & Elena Demuru & Martina Ventura & Roberto Gnavi & Lidia Di Minco & Cristina Tamburini & Concetta Mirisola & Gabriella Sebastiani, 2020. "Socioeconomic and citizenship inequalities in hospitalisation of the adult population in Italy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(4), pages 1-11, April.
    6. Jiménez-Rubio, Dolores & Hernández-Quevedo, Cristina, 2010. "Explaining the demand for pharmaceuticals in Spain: Are there differences in drug consumption between foreigners and the Spanish population?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(2-3), pages 217-224, October.
    7. Pedro Pita Barros & Isabel Medalho Pereira, 2009. "Health Care and Health Outcomes of Migrants: Evidence from Portugal," Human Development Research Papers (2009 to present) HDRP-2009-28, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), revised Jul 2009.
    8. Denier, Yvonne & Gastmans, Chris, 2013. "Realizing good care within a context of cross-cultural diversity: An ethical guideline for healthcare organizations in Flanders, Belgium," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 38-46.
    9. Philip Q. Yang & Shann Hwa Hwang, 2016. "Explaining Immigrant Health Service Utilization," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(2), pages 21582440166, May.
    10. Rafael Muñoz de Bustillo & José-Ignacio Antón, 2011. "From Rags to Riches? Immigration and Poverty in Spain," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 30(5), pages 661-676, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    health care utilisation; health limitations; inequalities; immigrants; Spain;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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