Migrant Study

In 2013-2014, a sample of older adults aged 55-65 years born in Turkey and Morocco (first generation immigrants with a Dutch citizenship) was included in LASA. These migrants comprise the third and second largest groups of older non-Western migrants living in the Netherlands. These groups face a number of additional challenges in older age, relative to their Dutch age-peers, such as language barriers, poverty, discrimination and prejudice. By including a sample of Turkish and Moroccan migrants living in the Netherlands we were able to compare multiple domains of functioning in these groups with functioning of their Dutch age-peers. Moreover, the impact of characteristics of migration on various domains of functioning could be studied.  

In total, 478 older adults from Turkish (n = 269) and Moroccan (n = 209) origin with birth years between 1948 and 1957 were included. Data collection took place in 15 Dutch cities with population sizes between 85,000 and 805,000 inhabitants: Amsterdam, Zwolle, Oss, Alkmaar, Almere, Amersfoort, Breda, Eindhoven, Enschede, Haarlem, Helmond, Hilversum, Nijmegen, Tilburg and Zaanstad. Data were collected in a main interview and in a subsequent medical interview. Trained interviewers of the same ethnic background conducted face-to-face interviews in Dutch, Turkish, Moroccan Arabic (Darija) or Berber language (Tarifit). Questionnaires included measures from regular LASA measurement waves as well as migrant-specific measures. If questionnaires were not available in Moroccan Arabic, Berber or Turkish, questions were translated by two professional translators according to the back-and-forth method. So far, no follow-up data have been collected among respondents included in the LASA Migrant Study.

More information on the LASA Migrant Study can be found in this publication:

Hoogendijk, E.O., Deeg, D.J.H., de Breij, S., Klokgieters, S.S., Kok, A.A.L., Stringa, N., Timmermans, E.J., van Schoor, N.M., van Zutphen, E.M., van der Horst, M., Poppelaars, J., Malhoe, P., & Huisman, M. (2020). The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam: Cohort update 2019 and additional data collections. European Journal of Epidemiology, 35, 61-74. DOI: 10.1007/s10654-019-00541-2 (OPEN ACCESS)