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Reporting of Ethno-Racial Identity and Immigration Status in Published Studies on Newcomer Children

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Abstract

Access to health services can differ greatly based on ethno-racial identity and immigration status. We examined the reporting of ethno-racial data and immigration status in published literature on the health of newcomer children. An integrative scoping review was performed using the methodological framework outlined by Arksey and O’Malley (2005). 4147 articles were identified and 75 studies included in the final analysis. 67% (50/75) did not describe the participants immigration status at all. Most studies (65%, 49/75) also did not report participants’ ethno-racial identities. Of those that did, 65% (17/26) reported participant ethnicity alone, and 15% (4/26) reported race alone, while 19% (5/26) reported both race and ethnicity. We found that most studies on newcomer children did not report immigration status or ethno-racial identity. In doing so, studies may ignore the specific impacts of racism and xenophobia on health and access to care.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge Alexandra Amiri, Saisujani Rasiah and Puneet Parmar with their assistance with formatting this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Women and Children’s Health, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, 61 Queen St E, 2nd Floor, Toronto, ON, M5C 2T2, Canada

    Pardeep Kaur, Ripudaman Singh Minhas & Shazeen Suleman

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Bonnie Chi-Yan Cheung, Ripudaman Singh Minhas & Shazeen Suleman

  3. Health Sciences Library, Unity Health Toronto, St. Michael’s Hospital, Health Sciences Library, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Teruko Kishibe

  4. Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Ripudaman Singh Minhas & Shazeen Suleman

  5. MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Shazeen Suleman

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  1. Pardeep Kaur
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  2. Bonnie Chi-Yan Cheung
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  3. Teruko Kishibe
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  4. Ripudaman Singh Minhas
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  5. Shazeen Suleman
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Correspondence to Shazeen Suleman.

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Kaur, P., Cheung, B.CY., Kishibe, T. et al. Reporting of Ethno-Racial Identity and Immigration Status in Published Studies on Newcomer Children. J Immigrant Minority Health 26, 227–242 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-023-01539-5

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