Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32631325›Full record

Observational studyInternational journal for equity in health2020

Multimorbidity and chronic diseases among undocumented migrants: evidence to contradict the myths.

Luis Andrés Gimeno-Feliu, Marta Pastor-Sanz, Beatriz Poblador-Plou, Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga, Esperanza Díaz, Alexandra Prados-Torres

Open access · goldAbstract readObservational Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in International journal for equity in health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Social Contexts and Immigration Policies Directly Impact Immigrant Health.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025
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  4. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.

Luis Andrés Gimeno-FeliuEpiChron Research Group on Chronic Diseases, Aragón Health Sciences Institute (IACS), IIS Aragón, Miguel Servet University Hospital, Zaragoza, Spain. lugifel@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0003-2928-6623
Marta Pastor-SanzAragón Healthcare Service, Utrillas Health Centre, Zaragoza, Spain.
Beatriz Poblador-PlouEpiChron Research Group on Chronic Diseases, Aragón Health Sciences Institute (IACS), IIS Aragón, Miguel Servet University Hospital, Zaragoza, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-5119-5093
Amaia Calderón-LarrañagaEpiChron Research Group on Chronic Diseases, Aragón Health Sciences Institute (IACS), IIS Aragón, Miguel Servet University Hospital, Zaragoza, Spain.ORCID 0000-0001-9064-9222
Esperanza DíazDepartment of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Research Group for General Practice, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Alexandra Prados-TorresEpiChron Research Group on Chronic Diseases, Aragón Health Sciences Institute (IACS), IIS Aragón, Miguel Servet University Hospital, Zaragoza, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-5704-6056
Instituto de Salud Carlos III · ESServicio Aragonés de Salud · ESUniversidad de Zaragoza · ESUniversity of Bergen · NO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is little verified information on the global health status of undocumented migrants (UMs). Our aim is to compare the prevalence of the main chronic diseases and of multimorbidity in undocumented migrants, documented migrants, and Spanish nationals in a Spanish autonomous community.

methodsRetrospective observational study of all users of the public health system of the region of Aragon over 1 year (2011): 930,131 Spanish nationals; 123,432 documented migrants (DMs); and 17,152 UMs. Binary logistic regression was performed to examine the association between migrant status (Spanish nationals versus DMs and UMs) and both multimorbidity and individual chronic diseases, adjusting for age and sex.

resultsThe prevalence of individual chronic diseases in UMs was lower than in DMs and much lower than in Spanish nationals. Comparison with the corresponding group of Spanish nationals revealed odds ratios (OR) of 0.1-0.3 and 0.3-0.5 for male and female UMs, respectively (p < 0.05 in all cases). The risk of multimorbidity was lower for UMs than DMs, both for men (OR, 0.12; 95%CI 0.11-0.13 versus OR, 0.53; 95%CI 0.51-0.54) and women (OR, 0.18; 95%CI 0.16-0.20 versus OR, 0.74; 95%CI 0.72-0.75).

conclusionsAnalysis of data from a health system that offers universal coverage to all immigrants, irrespective of legal status, reveals that the prevalence of chronic disease and multimorbidity is lower in UMs as compared with both DMs and Spanish nationals. These findings refute previous claims that the morbidity burden in UM populations is higher than that of the native population of the host country.

Indexed as

Emigrants and ImmigrantsHealth StatusMultimorbidityTransients and MigrantsAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overChronic DiseaseCross-Sectional StudiesDelivery of Health CareDocumentationFemaleHumansJurisprudenceLogistic ModelsChronic diseaseEmigration and immigrationHealth statusMultimorbidityPrimary health careSpain

Identifiers

PMID32631325
PMCPMC7336489
OpenAlexW3039064816

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.