Canadian Journal of Public Health
Volume 107, Issue 3, 2016, Pages e278-e284
Black-White health inequalities in Canada at the intersection of gender and immigration (Article)
Patterson A.C. ,
Veenstra G.*
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a
Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada
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b
Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Intersectionality theory proposes that each combination of social categories derived from gender, race and nationality, such as immigrant White man or native-born Black woman, is associated with unique social experiences. We tested the potential of intersectionality theory for explicating racial inequalities in Canada by investigating whether Black-White health inequalities are conditioned by gender and immigrant status in a synergistic way. METHODS: Our dataset comprised 10 cycles (2001-2013) of the Canadian Community Health Survey. We used binary logistic regression to model Black-White inequalities in hypertension, diabetes, self-rated health, self-rated mental health and asthma separately for native-born women, native-born men, immigrant women and immigrant men. RESULTS: After controlling for potentially confounding factors we found that immigrant Black women had significantly higher odds of hypertension, diabetes and fair/poor self-rated health than immigrant White women. Native-born Black women and immigrant Black men had higher odds of hypertension and diabetes than native-born White women and immigrant White men respectively, and native-born White women were more likely than native-born Black women to report asthma. There were no statistically significant health differences between native-born Black and White men. Socio-economic status, smoking, physical activity and body mass index were implicated in some but not all of these racial health inequalities. None of the three-way interactions between racial identity, gender and immigration status was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: We found relatively high risks of ill health for Black Canadians in three of the four samples. Overall, however, we found little support for the intersectional hypothesis that Black-White health inequalities in Canada are conditioned by gender and immigrant status in a synergistic way. © 2016 Canadian Public Health Association or its licensor.
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https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84992046651&doi=10.17269%2fCJPH.107.5336&partnerID=40&md5=554fae7467ba0f9eed4c01962be23c1d
DOI: 10.17269/CJPH.107.5336
ISSN: 00084263
Cited by: 5
Original Language: English