Integration of Migrant Populations into Health Monitoring in Germany: Results from a Feasibility Study

Abstract

Background: Persons with migrant backgrounds (PMB) are considered ‘hard to reach’. To sustainably integrate migrant populations into health monitoring in Germany, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has launched the project Improving Health Monitoring in Migrant Populations (IMIRA), providing results on response rates, sample composition and the effectiveness of sequential interventions. Method: A multilingual feasibility study had been conducted in two German federal states, utilizing data from the residents’ registry. The target populations were persons with Turkish, Polish, Romanian, Syrian and Croatian citizenship living in Germany (n=9,068). Different modes of administration and interventions (study hotline, home visits) were used sequentially. To evaluate their usability, an experimental design was applied for Turkish and Syrian migrants. Results: Besides the overall response rate of 15.9%, there were different response rates by citizenship, ranging from 8.6% in the Turkish group to 24.3% in the Syrian group. Whereas the online mode, telephone mode and the study hotline showed little differences between the groups, the home visits led to an remarkable increase (+5.4% in the Turkish group; +7.3% in the Syrian group). Conclusion: The offer of multilingual survey modes and materials is strongly advised. Furthermore, the response rates of some PMB can be increased by tailored interventions, such as home visits and multilingual face-to-face interviews.