Quality of life among Turkish immigrants in Sweden.
OBJECTIVE
To assess quality of life among Turkish immigrants in Sweden by using the WHOQOL-100 scale and to evaluate the domains' contribution to explain the variance in the quality of life of the immigrants. Our hypothesis was QOL among Turkish immigrants in Sweden are better than Turkish people who are living in their home country.


METHODS
This study was performed in the districts of Stockholm where Turkish immigrants have mostly settled. With the help and guidance of the Turkish Association, a sample of 520 participants was selected. We collected the demographic data by printed questionnaires, and to measure the quality of life, we used the WHOQOL-100 scale Turkish version. For analysis, we used the SPSS V.13.0 and R package programs, variance analyses, and Bayesian regression.


RESULTS
The quality of life among the sample of Turkish immigrants was found to be moderate, but higher than the sample of the Turkish population. The quality of life of male immigrants was found to be higher than for females. Swedish-born Turks had better quality of life perceptions.


CONCLUSIONS
Turkish immigrants' quality of life perceptions were better than those of the Turkish sample. The best scores were received from the third generation. The first generation and female immigrants need attention in order to receive higher quality of life perceptions.
Bayram
Nuran
N
Department of Econometrics, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Uludag University, Gorukle Campus, Bursa 16059, Turkey. nuranb@uludag.edu.tr
Thorburn
Daniel
D
Demirhan
Haydar
H
Bilgel
Nazan
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003710:Demography; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D014421:Turkey / Q000208:ethnology
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