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Depression in middle-aged and older first generation migrants in Europe: Results from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

M.C. Aichberger ,
M. Schouler-Ocak ,
A. Mundt ,
M.A. Busch ,
E. Nickels ,
H.M. Heimann ,
A. Ströhle ,
F.M. Reischies ,
A. Heinz  and
M.A. Rapp
M.C. Aichberger*
Affiliation:
Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, St Hedwig Hospital, Charité, University Medicine, Große Hamburger Straße 5-11, 10115Berlin, Germany
M. Schouler-Ocak
Affiliation:
Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, St Hedwig Hospital, Charité, University Medicine, Große Hamburger Straße 5-11, 10115Berlin, Germany
A. Mundt
Affiliation:
Psychiatric Day Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, St Hedwig Hospital, Charité, University Medicine, Berlin, Germany
M.A. Busch
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
E. Nickels
Affiliation:
Geriatric Psychiatry Center, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, St Hedwig Hospital, Charité, University Medicine, Berlin, Germany
H.M. Heimann
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Mitte, Charité, University Medicine, Berlin, Germany
A. Ströhle
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Mitte, Charité, University Medicine, Berlin, Germany
F.M. Reischies
Affiliation:
Neuropsychiatry and Psychiatric Neuropsychology, Charité, Friedrich von Bodelschwingh - Klinik, Berlin, Germany
A. Heinz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Mitte, Charité, University Medicine, Berlin, Germany
M.A. Rapp
Affiliation:
Geriatric Psychiatry Center, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, St Hedwig Hospital, Charité, University Medicine, Berlin, Germany
*
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +493023112150; fax: +493023112251. E-mail address: marion.aichberger@charite.de (M.C. Aichberger).
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Abstract

Objective

To determine the prevalence of depression in migrants aged 50 years or older in comparison to residents without a history of migration in 11 European countries.

Methods and subjects

The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a cross-national, multidisciplinary, household-based panel survey using nationally representative probability samples (n = 28,517) of 11 European countries of the non-institutionalized population aged 50 years and older. Depression was measured using the EURO-D scale, and odds ratios (OR) were estimated for migration status. Effects of sociodemographic variables, somatic comorbidities, functional impairment, cognitive function, geographic region, and time lived in current country of residence were assessed in multivariate logistic regression analysis.

Results

Adjusting for confounds, the OR for depression in migrants was 1.42 (95% CI, 1.28–1.59). The influence of migration status on the prevalence of depression was significantly greater in Northern (OR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.39–2.46) and Western Europe (OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.22–1.57), compared to Southern Europe (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 0.79–1.70) (p < 0.05 for the interaction).

Conclusion

We found a higher prevalence of depression in first-generation migrants aged 50 years or older, together with relevant geographical variation. This difference was not due to other known predictors of depression in older age.

Keywords

Old age depressionPrevalenceMigrationCross-national surveyEurope
Type
Depression
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 25 , Issue 8 , December 2010 , pp. 468 - 475
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2010

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Footnotes

1

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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