Perceived ethnic discrimination as a determinant of migrants’ health in Italy

Abstract Discrimination has a negative impact on immigrants’ health and contributes to the (re)production of health inequalities. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of perceived discrimination on physical and mental health outcomes of migrants living in Italy. Data were taken from the Social Condition and Integration of Foreign Citizens (SCIF) survey, conducted in 2011–2012 in Italy, namely the first national survey that investigates social condition and integration of foreign citizens. In order to assess the association between perceived discrimination and both physical and mental health of immigrants, two binomial logistic regression models were fitted. The main finding of our study is that, also in Italy, perceived ethnic discrimination is associated with worse health outcomes, therefore, policymakers should develop and implement public interventions aimed at reducing health inequalities with the rest of the population and at promoting migrants’ social integration.