Immigrants’ self-perceived barriers to healthcare: A systematic review of quantitative evidence in European countries

IF 3.6 3区医学 Q1 HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES

Health Policy Pub Date : 2025-02-20 DOI:10.1016/j.healthpol.2025.105268

Chiara Allegri, Elisa Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Stefania Maria Lorenza Rimoldi

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

with Europe's demographic diversity growing due to immigration, understanding and addressing the barriers to healthcare experienced by immigrants is of paramount importance. However, an updated systematic review of the literature on this topic is missing.

Methods

we systematically searched the PubMed and Scopus databases to synthesise quantitative evidence regarding self-perceived barriers to healthcare access faced by immigrants in Europe. Peer-reviewed articles, written in English, published from 2011 onwards, studying adult populations not in detention centres were eligible for the review. Articles were charted according to the population of study, sample size, geographical area and level of study (local vs national), and applied methodology (descriptive vs inferential).

Results

linguistic and health literacy barriers emerge as the most prominent, and most studied, barriers to healthcare for immigrants. The extant literature covers disproportionally Northern European countries; often uses small sample sizes and convenience sampling; and is particularly limited as far as the undocumented population is concerned.

Discussion

policies should aim at increasing the availability of interpreters and healthcare materials translated in different languages, as well as at better training health professionals to address specific immigrants’ needs. We encourage future research to focus on healthcare barriers faced by immigrants in Southern and Central European contexts; to improve results’ robustness and external validity by using high quality sampling techniques and larger sample sizes, and including native populations as comparison groups; and to put more attention to the experience of undocumented immigrants, as they are the immigrant population with the most critical and precarious healthcare status.

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来源期刊

Health Policy 医学-卫生保健

CiteScore

6.40

自引率

6.10%

发文量

157

审稿时长

3-8 weeks

期刊介绍： Health Policy is intended to be a vehicle for the exploration and discussion of health policy and health system issues and is aimed in particular at enhancing communication between health policy and system researchers, legislators, decision-makers and professionals concerned with developing, implementing, and analysing health policy, health systems and health care reforms, primarily in high-income countries outside the U.S.A.