Migrant-sensitive epidemiological research often encounters methodological problems: differences among studies with regard to the definition of the term "migrant", difficulties in identifying migrants among the study participants and low participation rates of migrants in epidemiological studies. Therefore, a project has been initiated at the Robert Koch Institute with the aim of developing standards which ensure migrant-sensitive epidemiological research, provide a uniform framework for data collection and analysis, and make different data sources comparable. Ideally, the following standards should be followed: a comprehensive definition of the study population which includes migrants, standardisation of the term "migrant" and of its operationalisation, adequate participation rates of migrants in the study, inclusion of migrant-specific topics and questions, and migrant-specific non-responder analysis, data analysis, reporting of results and quality assurance. We give an overview of the status quo of the implementation of the these standards in ongoing studies of the Robert Koch Institute and propose minimum standards, which do not require considerable additional financial resources. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.

Migration Health Epidemiology Methods Standards

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