The influence of caregiver's migration status on child's use of healthcare services: evidence from Ireland

Patterns of healthcare use among children with immigrant and non-immigrant backgrounds in 2019 and 2020: evidence from the CRIAS cohort study in the metropolitan area of Lisbon, Portugal

BACKGROUND

International migrant families may face various barriers in the access and use of health services. Evidence on immigrant children's health care or prevention facilities' utilisation patterns is scarce in Portugal. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to compare health services use between immigrant and non-immigrant children in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon in 2019-2020 with the aim of informing public policies towards equitable access to, and use of health services.

METHODS

The CRIAS (Health Trajectories of Immigrant Children) prospective cohort study enrolled 420 children (51.6% immigrant) born in 2015 and attending primary health care (PHC) services in 2019. We compared primary health care facilities and hospital paediatric emergency department (ED) utilisation patterns in the public National Health Service, together with reported private practitioners use, between immigrant and non-immigrant children in 2019 and 2020. The Pearson chi-squared test, Fisher-Freeman-Halton Exact test, two-proportion z-test and Mann‒Whitney U test were used to examine the differences between the two groups.

RESULTS

In 2019, no significant differences in PHC consultations attendance between the two groups were observed. However, first-generation immigrant children (children residing in Portugal born in a non-European Union country) accessed fewer routine health assessments compared to non-immigrant children (63.4% vs. 79.2%). When children were acutely ill, 136 parents, of whom 55.9% were parents of non-immigrant children, reported not attending PHC as the first point of contact. Among those, nearly four times more non-immigrant children sought healthcare in the private sector than immigrant children (p < 0.001). Throughout 2019, immigrant children used ED more often than non-immigrant children (53.5% vs. 40.4%, p = 0.010), as their parents reported difficulties in accessing PHC. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer immigrant children accessed PHC compared to non-immigrant children (70% vs. 80%, p = 0.018). Both non-immigrant and immigrant children reduced ED use by 2.5 times, with a higher decrease among immigrant children (46% vs. 34%). In both 2019 and 2020, over 80% of immigrant and non-immigrant children used ED for conditions classified as having low clinical priority.

CONCLUSION

Beyond identifying health care use inequalities between immigrant and non-immigrant children, the study points to urgent needs for public policy and economic investments to strengthen PHC for all children rather than for some.

A qualitative reflexive thematic analysis into the experiences of being identified with a BRCA1/2 gene alteration: "So many little, little traumas could have been avoided"

Background

BRCA1/2 alterations increase females’ lifetime breast cancer risk to 40 – 90%, ovarian cancer to 10 – 60%, and males’ lifetime prostate cancer risk to ~ 10 – 25%. Psychosocial issues such as heightened distress can, therefore, occur in this population. This study aimed to explore the subjective experiences and needs of the BRCA1/2 alteration population in navigating cancer risk reduction measures.

Method

This study aimed to explore the experiences and identify the needs of 18 BRCA1/2 alteration carriers, recruited through strategic sampling. A public and patient panel (N = 6) collaborated on study development. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results

Two themes were identified: (i) Healthcare Services as a Burden to Navigate, and (ii) Burden Experienced Through Interactions with Healthcare Professionals. Results indicated uncertainty regarding care pathways, alongside a lack of relevant information. Participants felt unsupported by healthcare professionals, and as though healthcare professionals often perceive them as a burden.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that the quality of interactions in healthcare systems are of relevance to the BRCA1/2 alteration population, and that uncertainty surrounding access to services and information is prevalent. The establishment of specialist hereditary cancer clinics could reduce such burden.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-022-08372-w.

Examining the Association between Polish Migrant Status and Health Preferences Using a Novel Application of a Smaller Design EQ-5D-5L Valuation Study

INTRODUCTION

Migrants have different utilisation of healthcare services and health-related behaviours than host populations. A potential factor that may contribute to the notable differences in healthcare use and health-related behaviours between migrants and host populations is how these groups value health. Those who place a high value on health have greater healthcare-seeking practices than those who do not.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to examine how Polish migrants and native Irish differ in health state utility valuations using a novel application of a smaller design EQ-5D-5L valuation study.

METHODS

This study uses health preferences as a predictor of how one values health. We examined the EQ-5D-5L health preferences of 119 Polish migrants and 123 native Irish, both residing full-time in Ireland. To do so, we used a novel application of a smaller design EQ-5D-5L valuation study that consisted of 30 health states and a targeted sampling strategy coupled with a Bayesian statistical nonparametric model. We collected data from June 2018 to September 2019.

RESULTS

Our results highlight that Polish migrants and native Irish differ in their health preferences for and valuation of severe health states. Polish migrants place meaningfully higher utility valuations of 0.1 or more on the three most severe health states compared with the native Irish.

CONCLUSION

This study can provide an understanding of a potential new factor underpinning some of the disparities in healthcare utilisation and health-related behaviours among migrants and host populations in Europe. This study also provides proof of principle for using a smaller design EQ-5D-5L valuation study to explore differences in health preferences among other minority subgroups, which can otherwise be hard to uncover when using the secondary analysis of national EQ-5D-5L valuation studies.