title: Does migration affect the outcome of inpatient psychotherapy? Results from a retrospective cohort study.
abstract: Reliable data to determine whether migrant patients benefit sufficiently from evidence-based mental health interventions are scarce. Our aim was to examine the effect of migration on the outcome of inpatient psychotherapy.
  
  
  
  We conducted a retrospective cohort study and predicted the course of the global severity index of the Symptom Checklist 90 during therapy based on data from our routine clinical practice (N=542). We used mixed models for our analysis and included relevant clinical characteristics.
  
  
  
  One hundred and twenty-one patients of our sample had a history of migration which was consistently associated with more symptoms at baseline assessment. Patients with direct experiences of migration had the highest level of symptoms before therapy but also showed the largest decrease of symptoms during therapy (B=-0.09, SD=0.04, p=0.030). This interaction effect could be accounted for by our clinical variables. Patients with indirect experiences of migration did not differ from other patients in their level of improvement (B=-0.05, SD=0.04, p=0.149).
  
  
  
  According to our preliminary data, migration does not seem to negatively affect the outcome of inpatient psychotherapy. Limitations of these promising findings are discussed together with the strong need for more advanced studies in this area of research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany.. Electronic address: Jan-Frederic.Wiborg@lvr.de.
authors.forename: Jan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Wiborg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Eveline
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ben-Sliman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Michalek
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tress
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Ljiljana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Joksimovic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000523:psychology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Inpatient Psychotherapy; Migration; Treatment Outcome