Search

Background South Asian populations are the largest visible minority group in Canada; however, there is very little information on the mental health of these populations. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence rates and characteristics of mental health outcomes for South Asian first-generation immigrant and second-generation Canadian-born populations. Methods The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 2011 was used to calculate the estimated prevalence rates of the following mental health outcomes: mood disorders, anxiety disorders, fair-poor self-perceived mental health status, and extremely stressful life stress. The characteristics associated with these four mental health outcomes were determined through multivariate logistic regression analysis of merged CCHS 2007-2011 data. Results South Asian Canadian-born (3.5%, 95% CI 3.4-3.6%) and South Asian immigrant populations (3.5%, 95% CI 3.5-3.5%) did not vary significantly in estimated prevalence rates of mood disorders. However, South Asian immigrants experienced higher estimated prevalence rates of diagnosed anxiety disorders (3.4%, 95% CI 3.4-3.5 vs. 1.1%, 95% CI 1.1-1.1%) and self-reported extremely stressful life stress (2.6%, 95% CI 2.6-2.7% vs. 2.4%, 95% CI 2.3-2.4%) compared to their Canadian-born counterparts. Lastly, South Asian Canadian-born populations had a higher estimated prevalence rate of poor-fair self-perceived mental health status (4.4%, 95% CI 4.3-4.5%) compared to their immigrant counterparts (3.4%, 95% CI 3.3-3.4%). Different profiles of mental health determinants emerged for South Asian Canadian-born and immigrant populations. Female gender, having no children under the age of 12 in the household, food insecurity, poor-fair self-rated health status, being a current smoker, immigrating to Canada before adulthood, and taking the CCHS survey in either English or French was associated with greater risk of negative mental health outcomes for South Asian immigrant populations, while not being currently employed, having a regular medical doctor, and inactive physical activity level were associated with greater risk for South Asian Canadian-born populations. Conclusions Mental health outreach programs need to be cognizant of the differences in prevalence rates and characteristics of mental health outcomes for South Asian immigrant and Canadian-born populations to better tailor mental health services to be responsive to the unique mental health needs of South Asian populations in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a literature review examining the evidence for and against the existence of the "healthy immigrant effect" for mental health in Canada, a phenomenon where the foreign-born population has better levels of mental health compared to the national-born population. The methodological strengths and weaknesses of the present body of literature are examined, followed by recommendations for future research. The literature review yielded inconclusive evidence. The "healthy immigrant effect" for mental health did not hold true across all immigrant populations. It varied by factors such as country of origin, visible minority status, and wave of immigration. Future studies need to consider these important factors and include analyses of longitudinal data to further elucidate the "healthy immigrant effect" for mental health in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy may potentially constitute a major public health concern in Canada but despite this, the available epidemiological data on both rates and predictors of alcohol consumption during pregnancy is limited. The present study assessed the prevalence and predictors of maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy of women living in Canada from 2005-2006 who had a singleton live birth and whose child remained in their care 5-9 months following birth. Prevalence of maternal alcohol consumption was examined across the Canadian provinces. Methods: The analysis was based on the Maternity Experience Survey (MES), a population-based survey that assessed pregnancy, delivery and postnatal experiences of mothers and their children between November 2005 and May 2006. The main outcome variable assessed was ever drinking alcohol during pregnancy. The sample of mothers who drank during pregnancy consisted mainly of low to moderate level-alcohol drinkers (95.8%), while only 1.7% of the sample were heavy drinkers (>1 drink per day). Socio-economic factors, demographic factors, maternal characteristics, and pregnancy related factors that proved to be significant at the bivariate level were considered for a logistic regression analysis. Bootstrapping was performed to account for the complex sampling design. Results: Analysis of 5882 mothers, weighted to represent 72,767 Canadian women, found that 10.8% of women drank alcohol at some point during their pregnancies. This mainly reflects prevalence of low to moderate maternal alcohol consumption. Prevalence of drinking alcohol during pregnancy was 13.8% in Eastern-Central provinces, 7.8% in Western Provinces-British Columbia, 4.1% in Eastern-Atlantic provinces and 4.0% in Western-Prairie Provinces. Utilizing alcohol during gestation was significantly associated with several important factors including marital status, smoking status, reaction to the pregnancy and immigrant status. While being an immigrant to Canada appeared to confer a protective effect, women who have partners (odds ratio (OR) = 2.00; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.20, 3.31) and smoked during pregnancy (OR = 1.54; 95% CI: 1.12, 1.87) were significantly more likely to drink alcohol during their pregnancies. Perhaps most importantly, pregnant women who reported indifference or being unhappy/very unhappy in regards to their pregnancies exhibited 1.89- and 2.5-fold increased risk of drinking alcohol during their pregnancies, respectively. Conclusion: A number of important factors associated with maternal alcohol utilization during pregnancy have been identified, indicating areas where increased focus may serve to reduce maternal and pediatric morbidity and mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]