Immigration in Spain. Psychosocial risk factors

Introduction: WHO defines health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. PAHO describes the social determinants of health as ‘the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, work, live and age, including the forces and systems that influence everyday life’. Migrants face psychosocial factors as they leave their country and adapt to new environments. Migrants face psychosocial factors as they leave their country and adapt to new environments. This study aims to understand the distribution of migrants in Spain and to detect their risk factors in order to improve their health in the medium and long term.

Material and methods: we conducted a retrospective observational study of the population residing in Spain during 2018 and 2022 (the interval in which the largest number of data were collected). Data were collected from the National Institute of Statistics, the Crime Statistics Portal of the Ministry of the Interior and the Women's Institute of the Ministry of Equality.

Results: immigrants are less educated, live in poorer households and suffer more poverty. They have less access to health care compared to the Spanish population.

Conclusions: policy measures must be taken to reduce these inequalities.