Abstract
BackgroundThis paper focuses on the lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in individuals with Turkish migration backgrounds in Germany, as there is a lack of reliable epidemiological data on this subject.MethodsIn total, 662 adults with Turkish migration backgrounds were interviewed in Hamburg and Berlin by trained, bilingual interviewers using the computerized Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI DIA-X Version 2.8) to assess diagnoses according to the DSM-IVTR.ResultsThe analyses showed a weighted lifetime prevalence of 78.8% for any mental disorder, 21.6% for more than one and 7.3% for five or more disorders. Any mood disorder (41.9%), any anxiety disorder (35.7%) and any somatoform disorder/syndrome (33.7%) had the highest prevalences. Despite the sociodemographic differences between the first and second generations, there were no significant differences in the lifetime prevalence between generations, with the exception of any bipolar disorder. Female gender, older age and no current partnership were significantly associated with the occurrence of any mood disorder.ConclusionsOverall, the results indicate a high lifetime prevalence in individuals with Turkish migration backgrounds in Germany. These initial data are highly relevant to the German clinical and psychosocial healthcare system; however, the methodological limitations and potential biases should be considered when interpreting the results.
Highlights
This paper focuses on the lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in individuals with Turkish migration backgrounds in Germany, as there is a lack of reliable epidemiological data on this subject
Several studies have reported the following findings: (1) an increased lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in descendants compared to the first migrant generation [14,15,16,17,18,19,20]; (2) a negative association between age at migration and the development of mental disorders [17, 18, 20,21,22,23]; and (3) a positive association between the duration of residence and an increased risk of disorder development [18, 20, 22, 23]
Individuals were considered as having a Turkish migration background if they moved to the German Federal Republic after 1949, were Turkish nationals born in Germany, or were German-born citizens with at least one parent who was a migrant from Turkey or a Turkish national
Summary
This paper focuses on the lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in individuals with Turkish migration backgrounds in Germany, as there is a lack of reliable epidemiological data on this subject. Migration is often considered a critical life event promoting the development of physical and mental diseases in individuals due to the Dingoyan et al BMC Psychiatry (2017) 17:177 not determine significant divergences in the lifetime prevalences of depression and anxiety disorders between labor migrants (depression: 20%, anxiety disorders 21%) and the US general population (depression: 22%, anxiety disorders: 18%). The prevalence rates in refugees, which were considered separately, were twice as high as those in the labor migrants (depression: 44%, anxiety disorders: 40%). In this respect, it should be mentioned that the review is limited by the prevalence rates of the individual included studies, which varied greatly (depression: 3 ± 81%, anxiety disorders: 5 ± 90%) presumably due to the various measurement methods and recruitment strategies. Several studies have reported the following findings: (1) an increased lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in descendants compared to the first migrant generation [14,15,16,17,18,19,20]; (2) a negative association between age at migration and the development of mental disorders [17, 18, 20,21,22,23]; and (3) a positive association between the duration of residence and an increased risk of disorder development [18, 20, 22, 23]
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