Epidemiology of psychiatric morbidity among migrants compared to native born population in Spain: a controlled study

Adil Qureshi; Francisco Collazos; Natalia Sobradiel; Francisco Jose Eiroa-Orosa; Mercedes Febrel; Hilda Wara Revollo-Escudero; Eva Andrés; María del Mar Ramos; Miquel Roca; Miguel Casas; Antoni Serrano-Blanco; Javier I Escobar; Javier García-Campayo

doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2012.09.010

Epidemiology of psychiatric morbidity among migrants compared to native born population in Spain: a controlled study

Adil Qureshi, Francisco Collazos, Natalia Sobradiel, Francisco Jose Eiroa-Orosa, Mercedes Febrel, Hilda Wara Revollo-Escudero, Eva Andrés, María del Mar Ramos, Miquel Roca, Miguel Casas, Antoni Serrano-Blanco, Javier I Escobar, Javier García-Campayo

School of Health in Social Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Objective
The aim of this paper is to explore the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in different immigrant groups in Spain. In keeping with prior studies carried out in Europe, it is expected that the immigrant population will have elevated levels of psychopathology, with some variation across immigrant groups.

Method
Design: Multicenter, observational, cross-sectional study. Setting: Primary care settings of two Spanish regions. Sample: N= 1.503 immigrants paired with the same number of Spanish controls, adjusted by gender and age. Variables: Demographic variables, MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview and Standardized Polyvalent Psychiatric Interview, somatic symptoms section. Student's t tests, ORs and logistic regressions were used to analyze the data.

Results
No differences in psychiatric morbidity were found (native born 30.9%, population vs. immigrants 29.6%, OR=.942, CI=.806–1.100) when comparing immigrants to native born Spaniards. Relative to Spaniards (30.9%), Latin American immigrants had significantly higher levels of psychopathology (36.8%), Sub-Saharan Africans (24.4%) and Asians (16%) had significantly lower levels, and Eastern Europeans (31.4%) and North Africans (26.8%) showed no significant difference.

Conclusions
The hypotheses were only partially supported. Although overall immigrants did not differ from the native born population, when analyzed by geographic origin, only Latin Americans had higher levels of psychopathology. It is concluded that multiple factors need to be taken into consideration when studying the mental health of immigrants given that different immigrant groups have different levels of psychopathology.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	93-99
Number of pages	7
Journal	General hospital psychiatry
Volume	35
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2012.09.010
Publication status	Published - Jan 2013

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

Adult
Africa South of the Sahara
Africa, Northern
Asia
Case-Control Studies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Emigrants and Immigrants
Europe, Eastern
Female
Humans
Latin America
Logistic Models
Male
Mental Disorders
Primary Health Care
Spain
Young Adult

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10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2012.09.010

Cite this

Qureshi, A., Collazos, F., Sobradiel, N., Eiroa-Orosa, F. J., Febrel, M., Revollo-Escudero, H. W., Andrés, E., del Mar Ramos, M., Roca, M., Casas, M., Serrano-Blanco, A., Escobar, J. I., & García-Campayo, J. (2013). Epidemiology of psychiatric morbidity among migrants compared to native born population in Spain: a controlled study. General hospital psychiatry, 35(1), 93-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2012.09.010

@article{d7b68a9e7658480592013b72d56a9cd6,

title = "Epidemiology of psychiatric morbidity among migrants compared to native born population in Spain: a controlled study",

abstract = "Objective The aim of this paper is to explore the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in different immigrant groups in Spain. In keeping with prior studies carried out in Europe, it is expected that the immigrant population will have elevated levels of psychopathology, with some variation across immigrant groups. Method Design: Multicenter, observational, cross-sectional study. Setting: Primary care settings of two Spanish regions. Sample: N= 1.503 immigrants paired with the same number of Spanish controls, adjusted by gender and age. Variables: Demographic variables, MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview and Standardized Polyvalent Psychiatric Interview, somatic symptoms section. Student's t tests, ORs and logistic regressions were used to analyze the data. Results No differences in psychiatric morbidity were found (native born 30.9%, population vs. immigrants 29.6%, OR=.942, CI=.806–1.100) when comparing immigrants to native born Spaniards. Relative to Spaniards (30.9%), Latin American immigrants had significantly higher levels of psychopathology (36.8%), Sub-Saharan Africans (24.4%) and Asians (16%) had significantly lower levels, and Eastern Europeans (31.4%) and North Africans (26.8%) showed no significant difference. Conclusions The hypotheses were only partially supported. Although overall immigrants did not differ from the native born population, when analyzed by geographic origin, only Latin Americans had higher levels of psychopathology. It is concluded that multiple factors need to be taken into consideration when studying the mental health of immigrants given that different immigrant groups have different levels of psychopathology.",

keywords = "Adult, Africa South of the Sahara, Africa, Northern, Asia, Case-Control Studies, Cross-Sectional Studies, Emigrants and Immigrants, Europe, Eastern, Female, Humans, Latin America, Logistic Models, Male, Mental Disorders, Primary Health Care, Spain, Young Adult",

author = "Adil Qureshi and Francisco Collazos and Natalia Sobradiel and Eiroa-Orosa, {Francisco Jose} and Mercedes Febrel and Revollo-Escudero, {Hilda Wara} and Eva Andr{\'e}s and {del Mar Ramos}, Mar{\'i}a and Miquel Roca and Miguel Casas and Antoni Serrano-Blanco and Escobar, {Javier I} and Javier Garc{\'i}a-Campayo",

year = "2013",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2012.09.010",

language = "English",

volume = "35",

pages = "93--99",

journal = "General hospital psychiatry",

issn = "0163-8343",

publisher = "Elsevier",

number = "1",

}

Qureshi, A, Collazos, F, Sobradiel, N, Eiroa-Orosa, FJ, Febrel, M, Revollo-Escudero, HW, Andrés, E, del Mar Ramos, M, Roca, M, Casas, M, Serrano-Blanco, A, Escobar, JI & García-Campayo, J 2013, 'Epidemiology of psychiatric morbidity among migrants compared to native born population in Spain: a controlled study', General hospital psychiatry, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 93-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2012.09.010

TY - JOUR

T1 - Epidemiology of psychiatric morbidity among migrants compared to native born population in Spain

T2 - a controlled study

AU - Qureshi, Adil

AU - Collazos, Francisco

AU - Sobradiel, Natalia

AU - Eiroa-Orosa, Francisco Jose

AU - Febrel, Mercedes

AU - Revollo-Escudero, Hilda Wara

AU - Andrés, Eva

AU - del Mar Ramos, María

AU - Roca, Miquel

AU - Casas, Miguel

AU - Serrano-Blanco, Antoni

AU - Escobar, Javier I

AU - García-Campayo, Javier

PY - 2013/1

Y1 - 2013/1

N2 - Objective The aim of this paper is to explore the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in different immigrant groups in Spain. In keeping with prior studies carried out in Europe, it is expected that the immigrant population will have elevated levels of psychopathology, with some variation across immigrant groups. Method Design: Multicenter, observational, cross-sectional study. Setting: Primary care settings of two Spanish regions. Sample: N= 1.503 immigrants paired with the same number of Spanish controls, adjusted by gender and age. Variables: Demographic variables, MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview and Standardized Polyvalent Psychiatric Interview, somatic symptoms section. Student's t tests, ORs and logistic regressions were used to analyze the data. Results No differences in psychiatric morbidity were found (native born 30.9%, population vs. immigrants 29.6%, OR=.942, CI=.806–1.100) when comparing immigrants to native born Spaniards. Relative to Spaniards (30.9%), Latin American immigrants had significantly higher levels of psychopathology (36.8%), Sub-Saharan Africans (24.4%) and Asians (16%) had significantly lower levels, and Eastern Europeans (31.4%) and North Africans (26.8%) showed no significant difference. Conclusions The hypotheses were only partially supported. Although overall immigrants did not differ from the native born population, when analyzed by geographic origin, only Latin Americans had higher levels of psychopathology. It is concluded that multiple factors need to be taken into consideration when studying the mental health of immigrants given that different immigrant groups have different levels of psychopathology.

AB - Objective The aim of this paper is to explore the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in different immigrant groups in Spain. In keeping with prior studies carried out in Europe, it is expected that the immigrant population will have elevated levels of psychopathology, with some variation across immigrant groups. Method Design: Multicenter, observational, cross-sectional study. Setting: Primary care settings of two Spanish regions. Sample: N= 1.503 immigrants paired with the same number of Spanish controls, adjusted by gender and age. Variables: Demographic variables, MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview and Standardized Polyvalent Psychiatric Interview, somatic symptoms section. Student's t tests, ORs and logistic regressions were used to analyze the data. Results No differences in psychiatric morbidity were found (native born 30.9%, population vs. immigrants 29.6%, OR=.942, CI=.806–1.100) when comparing immigrants to native born Spaniards. Relative to Spaniards (30.9%), Latin American immigrants had significantly higher levels of psychopathology (36.8%), Sub-Saharan Africans (24.4%) and Asians (16%) had significantly lower levels, and Eastern Europeans (31.4%) and North Africans (26.8%) showed no significant difference. Conclusions The hypotheses were only partially supported. Although overall immigrants did not differ from the native born population, when analyzed by geographic origin, only Latin Americans had higher levels of psychopathology. It is concluded that multiple factors need to be taken into consideration when studying the mental health of immigrants given that different immigrant groups have different levels of psychopathology.

KW - Adult

KW - Africa South of the Sahara

KW - Africa, Northern

KW - Asia

KW - Case-Control Studies

KW - Cross-Sectional Studies

KW - Emigrants and Immigrants

KW - Europe, Eastern

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Latin America

KW - Logistic Models

KW - Male

KW - Mental Disorders

KW - Primary Health Care

KW - Spain

KW - Young Adult

U2 - 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2012.09.010

DO - 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2012.09.010

M3 - Article

C2 - 23200696

SN - 0163-8343

VL - 35

SP - 93

EP - 99

JO - General hospital psychiatry

JF - General hospital psychiatry

IS - 1

ER -

Epidemiology of psychiatric morbidity among migrants compared to native born population in Spain: a controlled study

Abstract

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

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