Immigrant background and medicine use for aches: national representative study of adolescents

OBJECTIVES: The aims of the study were to examine the association between immigrant background and medicine use for headache and stomach-ache among adolescents, and whether symptoms of headache and stomach-ache could explain the differences in medicine use. METHODS: We used data from the Danish contribution to the WHO-affiliated international cross-sectional survey Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) in 2006. Among boys, a total of 4170 ethnic Danes, 244 descendants of immigrants, and 224 immigrants participated. Among girls, 4310 ethnic Danes, 264 descendants of immigrants, and 232 immigrants were included. The associations between migrant background and medicine use for headache and stomach-ache by means of multilevel multivariate logistic regression analyses adjusted for age group, symptoms and the clustering effect of school and stratified by sex due to interactions. RESULTS: Among boys, the risk of medicine use for stomach-ache was higher for immigrants (odds ratio (OR), 1.54; 95% confidence intervals (CI), 0.99-2.44)) and descendants (OR, 1.97 (1.33-2.94)) compared to ethnic Danes. Similar associations were found for use of medicine for stomach-ache for immigrant girls (OR, 1.55 (1.12-2.15) and use of medicine for headache among boys (immigrants (OR, 1.36 (1.02-1.97 and descendants (1.48 (1.12-1.97)). Symptoms of aches were all independently associated with medicine use. After adjusting for these factors the association between immigrant background and medicine use attenuated slightly. CONCLUSION: Among adolescents in Denmark, the risk of medicine use for headache and stomach-ache was higher for immigrants and descendants as compared to ethnic Danes, with the exception of medicine use for headache among girls.