MORTALITY OF THE MIGRANT AND THE INDIGENO US POPULATION IN THE FEDERAL-REPUBLIC-OF-GERMANY

Comparative mortality studies with respect to nationality have not yet been published in a comprehensive way for the Federal Republic of Ger many. A recent special analysis of causes of death for German mortalit y statistics of the year 1986 indicates a lower mortality risk among t he migrant compared to the indigenous population. Apart from potential biases, such as underreporting of nationality of death cases or overe stimation of the size of the non-indigenous population in Germany, fro m the perspective of socioepidemiology the possibility arises that sel ection processes lastingly affect the mortality risk of migrants. The dependence of the length of stay from the quality of the state of heal th or rather a plausible increased likelihood of remigration in case o f chronic disease may constitute important influences, which could exp lain the differences in mortality between indigenous and migrant popul ation.