Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 21, Issue 4, 2019, Pages 811-819

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

Brand T.* , Samkange-Zeeb F. , Dragano N. , Keil T. , Krist L. , Yesil-Jürgens R. , Schlaud M. , Jöckel K.-H. , Razum O. , Reiss K. , Greiser K.H. , Zimmermann H. , Becher H. , Zeeb H.
  • a Department of Prevention and Evaluation, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS, Achterstr. 30, Bremen, 28359, Germany
  • b Department of Prevention and Evaluation, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS, Achterstr. 30, Bremen, 28359, Germany
  • c Institute of Medical Sociology, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty, University of Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, 40225, Germany
  • d Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, 10117, Germany
  • e Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, 10117, Germany
  • f Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Berlin, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, 12101, Germany
  • g Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, 12101, Germany
  • h Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (IMIBE), University Hospital Essen, Essen, 45122, Germany
  • i Department of Epidemiology & International Public Health, Bielefeld School of Public Health (BiSPH), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33501, Germany
  • j Department of Epidemiology & International Public Health, Bielefeld School of Public Health (BiSPH), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33501, Germany, AID Information Service: Food, Agriculture, Consumer Protection, Heilsbachstr. 16, Bonn, 53123, Germany
  • k German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, 69120, Germany
  • l Institute of Public Health, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany
  • m Institute of Medical Biometry and Epidemiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
  • n Department of Prevention and Evaluation, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS, Achterstr. 30, Bremen, 28359, Germany, Health Sciences Bremen, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

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. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Author Keywords

Epidemiologic study Germany recruitment Turkish migrants

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85050363071&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-018-0788-4&partnerID=40&md5=c494a9b56a1d1d2198430d119f36e26f
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-018-0788-4
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 1
Original Language: English