Patterns of risk for anxiety-depression amongst Vietnamese-immigrants: a comparison with source and host populations

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Tien Chey¹  Nguyen Mong Giao²  Derrick Silove³  Thuy Thi Bich Phan³  Zachary Steel³  Belinda J Liddell⁴ 

[1] Centre for Population Mental Health Research, Level 1, Mental Health Centre, Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, Australia;Department of Psychiatry, Cần Thơ University, Cần Thơ, Vietnam;Psychiatry Research and Teaching Unit (PRTU), School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia;Centre for Population Mental Health Research, Level 1, Mental Health Centre, Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, Australia;Psychiatry Research and Teaching Unit (PRTU), School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia;School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia;

关键词: Anxiety;    Depression;    Risk factor;    Immigrant;    Low-middle income countries (LMIC);    High income countries (HIC);    Age;    Trauma;    Culture;    Vietnam;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-244X-13-329

 received in 2012-11-15, accepted in 2013-11-19,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundStudies suggest that immigrants have higher rates of anxiety-depression than compatriots in low-middle income countries and lower rates than populations in host high income countries. Elucidating the factors that underlie these stepwise variations in prevalence may throw new light on the pathogenesis of anxiety-depressive disorders globally. This study aimed to examine whether quantitative differences in exposure to, or the interaction between, risk factors account for these anxiety-depression prevalence differences amongst immigrant relative to source and host country populations.MethodsMultistage population mental health surveys were conducted in three groups: 1) a Vietnamese-immigrant sample settled in Australia (n = 1161); 2) a Vietnamese source country sample residing in the Mekong Delta region (n = 3039); 3) an Australian-born host country sample (n = 7964). Multivariable logistic regression analyses compared risk factors between the Vietnamese-immigrant group and: 1) the Mekong Delta Vietnamese; and 2) the Australian-born group. Twelve month anxiety-depression diagnoses were the main outcome measures, derived from the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), supplemented by an indigenously derived measure - the Phan Vietnamese Psychiatric Scale (PVPS) in both Vietnamese groups.ResultsThe 12-month prevalence of anxiety-depression showed a stepwise increase across groups: Mekong Delta Vietnamese 4.8%; Vietnamese-immigrants 7.0%; Australian-born 10.2%. The two Vietnamese populations showed a similar risk profile with older age, exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs), multiple physical illnesses and substance use disorder (SUD) being associated with anxiety-depression, with the older Vietnamese-immigrants reporting greater exposure to these factors. The interaction between key risk factors differed fundamentally when comparing Vietnamese-immigrant and Australian-born samples. Age emerged as the major discriminator, with young Vietnamese-immigrants exhibiting particularly low rates of anxiety-depression.ConclusionsThe findings reported here suggest that core risk factors for anxiety-depression may be universal, but their patterning and interaction may differ according to country-of-origin. The study also highlights the importance of including both standard international and culturally-specific measures to index cross-cultural manifestations of common mental disorders.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Liddell et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013