Background: Contradictory evidence exists as to the rate of use of healthcare services by Israeli immigrants from the former Soviet Union (fSU).
Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the rates of utilization of healthcare services in veteran Israeli Jews and immigrants a decade and a half after immigration.
Methods: The data was obtained from the Israel National Health Interview Survey (INHIS) during 2003-2004, which is based on 6,756 interviews with veteran Israeli Jews and 953 interviews with immigrants from the fSU, of them 835 arrived in Israel during the years 1990-1998, and 118 arrived after 1998. Questions included use of healthcare services, health status and socioeconomic factors.
Results: The immigrants from the fSU reported similar rates of visiting a family physician and specialist and lower hospitalization rates after adjustment for socioeconomic variables compared to veteran Jews. However, the rate of use of preventive tests such as serum cholesterol tests, mammography and Pap smear tests was lower in immigrants. There was no significant difference in use of healthcare services between recent immigrants and those living in Israel more than 5 years, except for mammography performance.
Conclusions: The use of community healthcare services among immigrants is similar to the use among veteran Jews. However, the immigrant population in Israel utilizes preventive services less often than the veteran Jewish population.