Assessment of the socioeconomic status, other health related factors,and the subjective state of health of elderly people with a Russian migration background in Hamburg

Abstract

People with a migration background account for about a fifth of the German population. The number of elderly migrants in Germany and their share in the total German population grow constantly. Although the people with a Russian background are the second largest group of migrants in Germany, there is a lack of relevant knowledge about their health and its determinants, particularly of the older ones. Altogether 100 elderly men and women with Russian migration background from Hamburg/Germany were interviewed based on a standardized questionnaire in Russian about their subjective state of health, socioeconomic status, and other determinants of health. This cross-sectional study was done in context of the Sağlik project. It gave a possibility to compare the results with the data obtained from the other Sağlik participants (elderly with Turkish or Polish background and the German control group). For analysis, descriptive, bivariate, and multifactorial methods were used. The results show, that the men and women with the Russian background rate their subjective current state of health as relatively poor. This is possible cause by the following health related factors. Firstly, an internal social discrepancy was found between components of socioeconomic status (high educational level, but low professional level, and low individual income). Secondly, insufficient use of social resources was found (partly poor social networking). Thirdly, a risky health behavior was observed: high smoking rate, particularly by the Russian men, probably insufficient level of physical activity with low attention to sufficient physical activity, unhealthy nutrition (low fruit and vegetable consumption, high meat consumption, rare consumption of low fat or fat free food, low attention to healthy nutrition), and as a result a high prevalence of overweight and obesity. Fourthly, these findings were accompanied by an inhomogeneous use of health services. In spite of some limitations, this study supplies a valuable data base about health and certain health related factors of the elderly of the second largest population of people with migration background in Germany. These results, as well as the comparison between the four ethnic groups, can be used to develop corresponding complex health promotion programs, not only for the elderly people with a Russian background, but also for the other migrants, in order to improve their state of health and strengthen their social networking.