Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39044675›Full record

ArticleHealth expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy2024

Central and Eastern European Migrants in the United Kingdom: A Scoping Review of the Reasons for Utilisation of Transnational Healthcare.

Victoria Stepanova, Aaron Poppleton, Ruth Ponsford

Abstract readScoping Review
In one paragraph

Article in Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Language as a barrier to colorectal cancer screening in flanders: an ecological study.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025
    Article
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

3 authors.

Victoria StepanovaFaculty of Public Health & Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.ORCID 0009-0002-9642-9911
Aaron PoppletonSchool of Medicine, Keele University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3435-6721
Ruth PonsfordFaculty of Public Health & Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-2612-0249

Funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAn estimated 2.2 million people from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) live in the United Kingdom. It has been documented that CEE migrants underutilise health services in the United Kingdom and, as an alternative, seek healthcare in their home country. However, reasons for seeking healthcare abroad are not always clear. This review aims to identify the reasons for the uptake of transnational healthcare among CEE migrants resident in the United Kingdom.

methodsInformed by discussions with community members, medical stakeholders and academics, a systematic scoping review was undertaken following the nine-stage Joanna Briggs Institute framework for scoping reviews. A search strategy with MeSH terms, where relevant, was used and adapted in five academic databases, two grey literature databases and Google Scholar. Included records encompassed four concepts: migration, CEE nationalities, UK nations and healthcare utilisation, which were written in English and published between May 2004 and 2022. Data from the literature were coded, grouped and organised into themes.

resultsA total of 16 publications fulfilled the inclusion criteria. There is evidence that some CEE migrants exclusively use healthcare services in the United Kingdom. However, many CEE migrants utilise healthcare both in the United Kingdom and their country of origin. Four themes were identified from the literature as to why migrants travelled to their country of origin for healthcare: cultural expectations of medical services, distrust in the UK NHS, barriers and transnational ties.

conclusionPush factors led CEE migrants to seek healthcare in their country of origin, facilitated by ongoing transnational ties. CEE migrants frequently combine visits to their country of origin with medical appointments. Utilising healthcare in their country of origin as opposed to the United Kingdom can result in fragmented and incomplete records of medications, medical tests and surgeries and risk of unnecessary treatments and complications. This review highlights the need for more targeted health outreach with CEE groups within the United Kingdom, as well as the need for further research on the impact of national events, for example, COVID-19 and Brexit, on transnational healthcare-seeking behaviours. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: The concept for this scoping review was informed by discussions with community members, medical professionals and academics, who identified it as a current issue. The results of this scoping review were discussed with healthcare stakeholders.

Indexed as

Patient Acceptance of Health CareTransients and MigrantsEurope, EasternHealth Services AccessibilityHumansUnited Kingdomcommunication barriersdelivery of healthcareEastern EuropeEastern European peoplemigrantstransientsUnited Kingdom

Identifiers

PMID39044675
PMCPMC11266902

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.