Healthy Immigrant Effect: Trayectoria de salud de la población inmigrante a partir de la ENSE 2011-2012

The main aim of this article is to study the health dynamics of the immigrant population in Spain and provide empiri¬cal evidence which proves the existence of the Healthy Immigrant Effect. Data from the 2011-2012 Spanish National Health Survey is used to estimate different probabilistic models, taking as outcome variables the self-assessed health status, the presence of chronic conditions and limitations in main activity. Our results show that the immigrant population has a better level of health than their Spanish counterparts. Evidence in favour of the Healthy Immigrant Effect is also found, since the health status tends to decline with length of time since immigration and to converge to native-born levels. From the point of view of health systems, the analysis of immi¬grant health differences and its trends is essential to meet the healthcare needs. It must be pointed that these necessi¬ties tend to vary with time since migration. Consequently, immigrants’ access to different health services should be guaranteed.