Longitudinal changes in health related quality of life in children with migrant backgrounds.
BACKGROUND
Little is known about longitudinal changes in the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) among children with migrant backgrounds.


METHODS
The sample comprised 350 children with predominantly migrant backgrounds enrolled in 7 kindergartens in Frankfurt and Darmstadt, Germany. At baseline, the participants' mean age was 4.4 years (SD 0.9). Data collection started in May 2009. Two waves of data were collected one year apart (94% response rate). HRQoL was evaluated with the Kiddy-KINDL. The other variables under study were sex, age, socioeconomic status, country of origin, developmental status (WET) and individual behavior (VBV). Data were collected from the children, parents and teachers. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess the Wilson and Cleary theoretical framework on changes in HRQoL and Generalized Estimated Equations (GEE) to model the longitudinal trend in HRQoL.


RESULTS
Overall HRQoL remained stable between baseline and follow-up. SEM model fit was χ2 = 8.51; df = 5; p = 0.13; SRMR = 0.02 RMSEA = 0.06 and indicated that there were differences in kindergarten activities (p<0.05). The GEE model elucidated that the differences in HRQoL between the baseline and follow-up varied according to kindergarten activities that the children were assigned to (music, art, or no activities) (p<0.05), but that there were no differences in terms of country of origin. On average, girls reported better HRQoL.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall HRQoL scores remained stable over follow-up in a sample of migrant children and there were no differences in terms of origin. However, there was heterogeneity in the results depending on the kindergarten activities that the children were assigned to.
Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.|Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America.
Ester
E
Villalonga-Olives
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America.
Ichiro
I
Kawachi
Department of Health Sciences, Community and Occupational Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Josue
J
Almansa
Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
Nicole
N
von Steinbüchel
D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012574:Schools; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000523:psychology