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© 1994 Oxford University Press

other

Implications of Russian Immigration on Mortality Patterns in lsrael

GAD RENNERT

Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology, Kupat Holim Klalit, Carmel Medical Center, Haifa 34362, Israel and Technion, Faculty of Medicine Haifa, Israel

BackgroundMany immigrants from the former USSR arrived in Israel during the period 1989 to 1992 and now comprise 10% of the Israeli population. They are expected to cause a change in the health profile of the country due to their different patterns of disease and an analysis was undertaken to predict these expected changes.

MethodsOfficial mortality statistics from lsrael and the USSR were compared for differences in major causes of death. Russian mortality rates were then incorporated into a calculation taking into account the total size of the Israeli population and the relative size of the immigrant population to give the expected overall age-adjusted mortality in Israel following the wave of immigration.

ResultsReported mortality rates in the European republics of the former USSR were found to be higher, by about 40%, than mortality rates in Israel. Cardiovascular diseasas (40%) and cancer (20%) were found to contribute equaliy to male mortality in Israel and the USSR, but cardiovascular diseases were more important in females in the USSR (65% versus 44% in Israel). Cerebrovascular disease was three times more common as a cause of death in the USSR than in Israel, in both sexes. Cancer, though similar in overall rate, was differently distributed in the two countries with lung and stomach cancer predominating and causing much higher mortality in the former USSR. Projections from these observations showed an expected immediate increase in mortality of 6% in males and 4.4% in females, assuming the mortality pattern reported are valid for Russian immigrants to Israel.

ConclusionMassive immigration to a country has the potential to significantly affect the overall health picture of the host country. Therefore, an evaluation of the health status and health-related habits of the immigrant population is warranted to target areas requiring intervention in order to both protect the host country and to facilitate assimilation.

Received 1 January 1994


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