This study explores the association between ethnicity and poor self-reported health and psychological distress, sleeping difficulties, and use of psychotropic drugs among immigrant Kurdish men and native Swedish men, based on data from the first Swedish National Survey of Immigrants and the Swedish Level-of-Living Surveys collected in 1996 by Statistics Sweden. The age-adjusted odds of poor self-reported health and sleeping difficulties among Kurdish men was about 3.5 times higher than among Swedish men. The odds ratio decreased to 2.1 and 2.7 respectively in a model adjusted for age and the other explanatory variables. Yearning for the home country, perceived discrimination and unemployment in the host country seem to be possible explanations for the higher levels of distress among Kurdish immigrants to Sweden. © 2006, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.

immigrants Kurdish men sleeping difficulties Self-reported health discrimination

anxiety unemployment immigrant educational status human risk assessment Self Report middle aged Ethnic Groups controlled study health status Arab Health Surveys Iran Family Characteristics Cross-Sectional Studies Sweden Humans ethnic difference sleep disorder male Socioeconomic Factors Health Status Indicators Article major clinical study adult frequency analysis Turkey distress syndrome age distribution Emigration and Immigration psychotropic agent social discrimination Sleep Disorders health survey