All-cause and Cardiovascular mortality among ethnic German immigrants from the Former Soviet Union: a cohort study
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Migration is a phenomenon of particular Public Health importance. Since 1990, almost 2 million ethnic Germans (<it>Aussiedler</it>) have migrated from the former Soviet Union (FSU) to Germany. This study compares their ov...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2006-01-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
| Online Access: | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/6/16 |
| _version_ | 1811279666369003520 |
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| author | Becher Heiko Kyobutungi Catherine Ronellenfitsch Ulrich Razum Oliver |
| author_facet | Becher Heiko Kyobutungi Catherine Ronellenfitsch Ulrich Razum Oliver |
| author_sort | Becher Heiko |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Migration is a phenomenon of particular Public Health importance. Since 1990, almost 2 million ethnic Germans (<it>Aussiedler</it>) have migrated from the former Soviet Union (FSU) to Germany. This study compares their overall and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality to that of Germany's general population. Because of high overall and CVD mortality in the FSU and low socio-economic status of <it>Aussiedler </it>in Germany, we hypothesize that their mortality is higher.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a retrospective cohort study for 1990–2002 with data of 34,393 <it>Aussiedler</it>. We assessed vital status at population registries and causes of death at the state statistical office. We calculated standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for the whole cohort and substrata of covariables such as age, sex and family size. To assess multivariate effects, we used Poisson regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>1657 cohort members died before December 31, 2002, and 680 deaths (41.03%) were due to CVD. The SMR for the whole cohort was 0.85 (95%-CI 0.81–0.89) for all causes of death and 0.79 (95%-CI 0.73–0.85) for CVD. SMRs were higher than one for younger <it>Aussiedler </it>and lower for older ones. There was no clear effect of duration of stay on SMRs. For 1990–93, SMRs were significantly lower than in subsequent years. In families comprising at least five members upon arrival in Germany, SMRs were significantly lower than in smaller families.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In contrast to our hypothesis on migrants' health, overall and CVD mortality among <it>Aussiedler </it>is lower than in Germany's general population. Possible explanations are a substantially better health status of <it>Aussiedler </it>in the FSU as compared to the local average, a higher perceived socio-economic status of <it>Aussiedler </it>in Germany, or selection effects. SMR differences between substrata need further exploration, and risk factor data are needed.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T00:59:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-828f378e20b5478b835e0686b3265b26 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T00:59:49Z |
| publishDate | 2006-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-828f378e20b5478b835e0686b3265b262022-12-22T03:09:30ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582006-01-01611610.1186/1471-2458-6-16All-cause and Cardiovascular mortality among ethnic German immigrants from the Former Soviet Union: a cohort studyBecher HeikoKyobutungi CatherineRonellenfitsch UlrichRazum Oliver<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Migration is a phenomenon of particular Public Health importance. Since 1990, almost 2 million ethnic Germans (<it>Aussiedler</it>) have migrated from the former Soviet Union (FSU) to Germany. This study compares their overall and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality to that of Germany's general population. Because of high overall and CVD mortality in the FSU and low socio-economic status of <it>Aussiedler </it>in Germany, we hypothesize that their mortality is higher.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a retrospective cohort study for 1990–2002 with data of 34,393 <it>Aussiedler</it>. We assessed vital status at population registries and causes of death at the state statistical office. We calculated standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for the whole cohort and substrata of covariables such as age, sex and family size. To assess multivariate effects, we used Poisson regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>1657 cohort members died before December 31, 2002, and 680 deaths (41.03%) were due to CVD. The SMR for the whole cohort was 0.85 (95%-CI 0.81–0.89) for all causes of death and 0.79 (95%-CI 0.73–0.85) for CVD. SMRs were higher than one for younger <it>Aussiedler </it>and lower for older ones. There was no clear effect of duration of stay on SMRs. For 1990–93, SMRs were significantly lower than in subsequent years. In families comprising at least five members upon arrival in Germany, SMRs were significantly lower than in smaller families.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In contrast to our hypothesis on migrants' health, overall and CVD mortality among <it>Aussiedler </it>is lower than in Germany's general population. Possible explanations are a substantially better health status of <it>Aussiedler </it>in the FSU as compared to the local average, a higher perceived socio-economic status of <it>Aussiedler </it>in Germany, or selection effects. SMR differences between substrata need further exploration, and risk factor data are needed.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/6/16 |
| spellingShingle | Becher Heiko Kyobutungi Catherine Ronellenfitsch Ulrich Razum Oliver All-cause and Cardiovascular mortality among ethnic German immigrants from the Former Soviet Union: a cohort study BMC Public Health |
| title | All-cause and Cardiovascular mortality among ethnic German immigrants from the Former Soviet Union: a cohort study |
| title_full | All-cause and Cardiovascular mortality among ethnic German immigrants from the Former Soviet Union: a cohort study |
| title_fullStr | All-cause and Cardiovascular mortality among ethnic German immigrants from the Former Soviet Union: a cohort study |
| title_full_unstemmed | All-cause and Cardiovascular mortality among ethnic German immigrants from the Former Soviet Union: a cohort study |
| title_short | All-cause and Cardiovascular mortality among ethnic German immigrants from the Former Soviet Union: a cohort study |
| title_sort | all cause and cardiovascular mortality among ethnic german immigrants from the former soviet union a cohort study |
| url | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/6/16 |
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