Abstract
BackgroundTo study Health related quality of life (HRQoL) of a sample of kindergarten children with migration background.MethodsFive kindergartens in Frankfurt/Main and Darmstadt (Germany) participated. HRQoL was measured with the Kiddy-KINDL (KK) in 3 to 5 year old children. We examined the associations of HRQoL with socio-demographic variables, positive development and resilience, socio-emotional and motor development. Linear regression models were applied to examine differences in HRQoL between migrant and native-born German children.ResultsThe response rate was 90.5% (N = 283). The children had predominantly migrant background (81.35%). Perceived health was slightly higher in migrants (69.85, SD 17.00) compared to native-born German children (68.33, SD 17.31, p > 0.05), even though migrant children were characterized by a lower socio-economic status (p < 0.01).ConclusionsResults suggest that HRQoL at early ages in our study exhibits a different pattern than reported previously in studies among older individuals. We attribute the discrepancy partly to a possible changing pattern of migration in Europe with more migrants capable to migrate with healthy profiles, and to the age of our population. Our findings underscore the need to study the life course trajectory of HRQoL among young immigrants and replication in representative samples.
Highlights
To study Health related quality of life (HRQoL) of a sample of kindergarten children with migration background
Within the European Union (EU), data suggest that children with migrant backgrounds have lower health status than native-born populations [2,3,4,5]
Considering the evolving reasons for migration over time, we hypothesize that the profile of migrants may have changed, making the patterns more similar to that observed in the United States with a profile of people with low socio-economic factors but with good job skills
Summary
To study Health related quality of life (HRQoL) of a sample of kindergarten children with migration background. Within the European Union (EU), data suggest that children with migrant backgrounds have lower health status than native-born populations [2,3,4,5] These differences have been attributed to the lower socio-economic backgrounds of economic migrants, lack of social integration, deficits in second language competence and performance as well as to experiences of discrimination [6]. This pattern is in contrast to studies conducted in the United States where immigrants – Mexican-Americans – have been found to have better health outcomes (e.g. a lower number of children with low birth weight rates) compared to the native-born, in spite of their lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Facts like the south-north migration, the levels of unemployment in the EU, and the good health status reported by migrants from Eastern and Mediterranean countries in some studies can be related to this phenomenon [12]
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