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Participation of Turkish Migrants in an Epidemiological Study: Does the Recruitment Strategy Affect the Sample Characteristics?

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Abstract

Migrants are often poorly represented in epidemiological studies which limits the generalizability of the results of population-based studies. This study aimed to assess whether a community-based sampling (CBS) of persons of Turkish origin leads to differences in the participants’ characteristics compared to a register-based sampling (RBS). The two sampling strategies were used to recruit participants in three cities in Germany (CBS: n = 641; RBS: n = 578). We compared sociodemographic, migration- and health-related characteristics. Census data were used as an external reference. Lower German language skills and a lower acculturation status were more prevalent in the CBS than in the RBS. While age and sex adjusted obesity prevalence differed [CBS: 37.8 (33.6–42.4); RBS 30.0 (26.3–34.0); census data 19.1 (18.2–20.1)], most other health indicators were similar across the samples. In conclusion, the CBS approach led to a greater representation of persons of Turkish origin with lower language skills and lower acculturation status. Nevertheless, both recruitment strategies provided similar estimates of health status indicators.

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Acknowledgements

This study was part of the feasibility studies in preparation for the German National Cohort and was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (German: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung); Grant Number: 01ER1001B; Beneficiary: Freiburg University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Prevention and Evaluation, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS, Achterstr. 30, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Tilman Brand, Florence Samkange-Zeeb & Hajo Zeeb

  2. Institute of Medical Sociology, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty, University of Duesseldorf, 40225, Duesseldorf, Germany

    Nico Dragano

  3. Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité Universitätsmedizin, 10117, Berlin, Germany

    Thomas Keil & Lilian Krist

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Berlin, Charité Universitätsmedizin, 12101, Berlin, Germany

    Rahsan Yesil-Jürgens

  5. Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch Institute, 12101, Berlin, Germany

    Martin Schlaud

  6. Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (IMIBE), University Hospital Essen, 45122, Essen, Germany

    Karl-Heinz Jöckel

  7. Department of Epidemiology & International Public Health, Bielefeld School of Public Health (BiSPH), Bielefeld University, 33501, Bielefeld, Germany

    Oliver Razum & Katharina Reiss

  8. AID Information Service: Food, Agriculture, Consumer Protection, Heilsbachstr. 16, 53123, Bonn, Germany

    Katharina Reiss

  9. German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Karin Halina Greiser

  10. Institute of Public Health, University Hospital Heidelberg, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Heiko Zimmermann

  11. Institute of Medical Biometry and Epidemiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

    Heiko Becher

  12. Health Sciences Bremen, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Hajo Zeeb

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  1. Tilman Brand
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  9. Oliver Razum
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  11. Karin Halina Greiser
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  14. Hajo Zeeb
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Correspondence to Tilman Brand.

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Brand, T., Samkange-Zeeb, F., Dragano, N. et al. Participation of Turkish Migrants in an Epidemiological Study: Does the Recruitment Strategy Affect the Sample Characteristics?. J Immigrant Minority Health 21, 811–819 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0788-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0788-4

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