Immigrants’ access to health care: Problems identified in a high-risk tuberculosis population
R. Linhas,
O. Oliveira,
P. Meireles,
P. Oliveira,
M.B. de Melo,
J. Lourenço,
F. Ferreira,
R. Gaio,
R. Duarte
Affiliations
R. Linhas
Serviço de Pneumologia, Centro Hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal; Corresponding authors.
O. Oliveira
EPIUnit – Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
P. Meireles
EPIUnit – Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
P. Oliveira
EPIUnit – Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
M.B. de Melo
Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal
J. Lourenço
Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
F. Ferreira
Departamento de Matemática, Faculdade de Ciências, Porto, Portugal
R. Gaio
Departamento de Matemática, Faculdade de Ciências, Porto, Portugal; Centro de Matemática, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
R. Duarte
Serviço de Pneumologia, Centro Hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal; EPIUnit – Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal; Departamento de Ciências de Saúde Pública, Ciências Forenses e Educação Médica, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal; Corresponding authors.
Introduction: Immigrants may utilize health care services differently than other residents and may also have a greater risk for tuberculosis (TB). Objective: Identify barriers to healthcare access by immigrants, factors associated with these barriers, and discuss strategies that may reduce these barriers. Material and methods: Anonymous questionnaires were given to immigrants at National Immigrant Support Centres between 2015 and 2016. Barriers to healthcare were identified using logistic regression. Results: One-hundred and nineteen questionnaires were administered to immigrants, 9 of whom (8%) presented with TB while in Portugal. Twenty-one percent of immigrants reported barriers to healthcare access, and 69% had general practitioners (GPs). The presence of barriers to healthcare access was negatively associated with having a GP and with being married or in a de facto union. Conclusions: A considerable proportion of immigrants reported having difficulties accessing healthcare services in Portugal where legally these barriers are nonexistent. Certain factors were associated with these difficulties. Keywords: Tuberculosis, Immigration, Health services, Barriers
