Migration and mental health: Japanese Brazilians in Japan and in Brazil

Jornal Brasileiro de Psiquiatria

Lincoln Sakiara Miyasaka²  Soraya Canasiro¹  Yu Abe¹  Koichiro Otsuka¹  Keisuke Tsuji¹  Takuji Hayashi¹  Sérgio Baxter Andreoli¹  Décio Nakagawa¹  Itiro Shirakawa¹  Álvaro Nagib Atallah¹  Satoshi Kato¹ 

[1] ,Federal University of São Paulo

关键词: Migration;    Japan;    Brazil;    Japanese Brazilian;    psychiatry;    mental health;    Migração;    Japão;    Brasil;    brasileiros descendentes de japoneses;    psiquiatria;    saúde mental;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0047-20852007000100011

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

OBJECTIVE: Brazil is the country with the largest community of Japanese descendants in the world, from a migration movement that started in 1908. However, more recently (1988), a movement in the opposite direction began. Many of these descendants went to Japan for work purposes and suffered mental distress. Some of them sought treatment in Japan, while others returned to Brazil to seek treatment. The aim of the present study was to compare the sociodemographic profile and diagnoses of Japanese Brazilian psychiatric outpatients in Japan (remaining group) and in Brazil (returning group). METHOD: All consecutive Japanese Brazilian outpatients who received care from the psychiatric units in Japan and Brazil from April 1997 to April 2000 were compared. The diagnoses were based on ICD-10 and were made by psychiatrists. Sociodemographic data and diagnoses in Brazil and Japan were compared by means of the Chi-Squared Test. RESULTS: The individuals who returned to Brazil were mostly male and unmarried, had lived alone in Japan, had stayed there for short periods and were classified in the schizophrenia group. The individuals who remained in Japan were mostly female and married, were living with family or friends, had stayed there for long periods and were classified in the anxiety group. Logistic regression showed that the most significant factors associated with the returning group were that they had lived alone and stayed for short periods (OR = 0.93 and 40.21, respectively). CONCLUSION: We conclude that living with a family and having a network of friends is very important for mental health in the context evaluated.

【 授权许可】

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