Sylke Ruth Zeissig1, Susanne Singer2, Lena Koch3, Hajo Zeeb4,5, Martin Merbach6, Heike Bertram7, Andrea Eberle8, Sieglinde Schmid-Höpfner9, Bernd Holleczek10, Annika Waldmann11, Volker Arndt3. 1. Cancer Registry of Rhineland-Palatinate, Mainz, Germany. 2. Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University Medical Centre, Mainz, Germany. 3. Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany. 4. Leibniz Institute of Prevention Research and Epidemiology, Bremen, Germany. 5. Health Sciences Bremen, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany. 6. Association of Bi-national Families and Relationships, Berlin, Germany. 7. Cancer Registry North Rhine-Westphalia, Münster, Germany. 8. Bremen Cancer Registry, Bremen, Germany. 9. Cancer Registry Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany. 10. Saarland Cancer Registry, Saarbrücken, Germany. 11. University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Institute of Social Medicine and Epidemiology, Lübeck, Germany.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: We examined psychosocial and informational services used by long-term survivors of breast, colon and prostate cancer in immigrants versus non-immigrants. METHODS: Patients were sampled from population-based cancer registries in Germany. They completed a questionnaire assessing immigration biography, service use and socio-demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Data of 6143 cancer survivors were collected of whom 383 (6%) were immigrants. There was no evidence of an association between immigration status and service use. However, immigration biography played a role when patients' and their parents' birthplace were taken into account. When parents were born outside Europe, survivors less frequently used information from the Internet (ORadj 0.4, 95% CI 0.2; 0.8). Web-based information (ORadj 0.7, 95% CI 0.5; 0.9) was less frequently used when the participant was born outside Germany. CONCLUSION: The differences in the use of psychosocial and informational services between immigrants and non-immigrants seem to be generally small. Acculturation may play a role in service uptake. In survey-based health services research, investigators should not stratify by census-defined immigration status, but rather by cultural background.
OBJECTIVE: We examined psychosocial and informational services used by long-term survivors of breast, colon and prostate cancer in immigrants versus non-immigrants. METHODS:Patients were sampled from population-based cancer registries in Germany. They completed a questionnaire assessing immigration biography, service use and socio-demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Data of 6143 cancer survivors were collected of whom 383 (6%) were immigrants. There was no evidence of an association between immigration status and service use. However, immigration biography played a role when patients' and their parents' birthplace were taken into account. When parents were born outside Europe, survivors less frequently used information from the Internet (ORadj 0.4, 95% CI 0.2; 0.8). Web-based information (ORadj 0.7, 95% CI 0.5; 0.9) was less frequently used when the participant was born outside Germany. CONCLUSION: The differences in the use of psychosocial and informational services between immigrants and non-immigrants seem to be generally small. Acculturation may play a role in service uptake. In survey-based health services research, investigators should not stratify by census-defined immigration status, but rather by cultural background.