CSH researcher Elise Chen will present an online talk within the seminar “Analysis of Complex Systems” on June 11, 2021, 3–4 pm (CET) via Zoom.
If you would like to attend, please email office@csh.ac.at
Abstract:
Young refugees are at increased risk of labor market marginalization (LMM). We examined whether the association of multimorbidity patterns and LMM differs in refugee youth compared to Swedish-born youth, and identify the diagnostic groups driving this association.
We analyzed 249,245 individuals between 20–25 years at 31.12.2011 from a combined Swedish registry. Refugees were matched 1:5 to Swedish-born youth. A multimorbidity score was computed from a network of disease co-occurrences in 2009–2011. LMM was defined as disability pension (DP) or >180 days of unemployment during 2012–2016. Relative risks (RR) of LMM were calculated for 114 diagnostic groups (2009–2011). The odds of LMM as a function of multimorbidity score were estimated using logistic regression.
2841 (1.1%) individuals received DP and 16,323 (6.5%) experienced >180 annual days of unemployment during follow-up. Refugee youth had a marginally higher risk of DP (OR(95%CI): 1.59(1.52, 1.67)) depending on their multimorbidity score compared to Swedish-born youth (OR(95%CI): 1.51 (1.48, 1.54)); no differences were found for unemployment (OR(95%CI): 1.15 (1.12, 1.17), 1.12 (1.10,1.14), respectively). Diabetes mellitus and influenza/pneumonia elevated RR of DP in refugees (RRs (95% CI) 2.4 (1.02, 5.6) and 1.75 (0.88, 3.45), respectively); the majority of diagnostic groups were associated with a higher risk for unemployment in refugees.
Multimorbidity related similarly to LMM in refugees and Swedish-born youth but different diagnoses drove these associations. Targeted prevention, screening, and early intervention strategies towards specific diagnoses may effectively reduce LMM in young adult refugees.