Managing Mental Health Problems Among Immigrant Women Attending Primary Health Care Services

Health Care Women Int. 2016;37(1):118-39. doi: 10.1080/07399332.2015.1077844. Epub 2015 Aug 7.

Abstract

Researchers in Norway explore treatment options in primary care for immigrant women with mental health problems compared with nonimmigrant women. Three national registers were linked together for 2008. Immigrant women from Sweden, Poland, the Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan, and Russia were selected for analysis and compared with Norwegian women. Using logistic regression, we investigated whether treatment type varied by country of origin. Rates of sickness leave and psychiatric referrals were similar across all groups. Conversational therapy and use of antidepressants and anxiolytics were lower among Filipina, Thai, Pakistani, and Russian women than among Norwegians. Using the broad term "immigrants" masks important differences in treatment and health service use. By closely examining mental health treatment differences by country of origin, gaps in service provision and treatment uptake may be identified and addressed with more success.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Cultural Competency
  • Emigrants and Immigrants / psychology*
  • Emigrants and Immigrants / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Healthcare Disparities
  • Humans
  • Mental Disorders / ethnology*
  • Mental Disorders / psychology
  • Mental Disorders / therapy*
  • Mental Health
  • Mental Health Services / statistics & numerical data*
  • Norway / epidemiology
  • Patient Acceptance of Health Care / ethnology*
  • Patient Acceptance of Health Care / statistics & numerical data
  • Population Groups / psychology*
  • Population Groups / statistics & numerical data
  • Primary Health Care / statistics & numerical data*
  • Retrospective Studies