• Last updated: Mon, Feb 5, 2024Status: Ongoing
• Eleonora Mussino, Sol Juarez, Anna Meyer, Gunnar Andersson, Karin Modig, and Sven Drefahl

Do migrants have a mortality disadvantage in the care setting? Living arrangement and mortality among elderly migrants in Sweden before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study examines the relationship between migration status and COVID-19 mortality in Sweden, focusing on the elderly in different care settings and living arrangements. Previous research consistently demonstrates that migrants have faced a higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes, a finding that stands in stark contrast to the otherwise observed migrant mortality advantage. Utilizing Swedish register data for the years from 1990 to 2021/22, the study stratifies participants aged 70 and above based on their care status and country of origin, adjusting for other sociodemographic and health characteristics. Our preliminary findings (based on other and previously available data) underscore the significant roles of care as well as migration status in COVID-19 mortality, far larger than those for other causes of death not related to COVID-19. Our preliminary results also reveal higher mortality rates among foreign-born elderly individuals in different care settings, as compared to their native-born counterparts. This contrasts with mortality patterns from non-COVID-19 causes, highlighting a specific migrant disadvantage during the pandemic. It suggests that factors beyond the care setting have contributed to observed inequalities, and necessitates further investigation to fully understand and address these disparities.