Does migration affect the outcome of inpatient psychotherapy? Results from a retrospective cohort study

Reliable data to determine whether migrant patients benefit sufficiently from evidence-based mental health interventions are scarce. Our aim was to examine the effect of migration on the outcome of inpatient psychotherapy.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study and predicted the course of the global severity index of the Symptom Checklist 90 during therapy based on data from our routine clinical practice (N=542). We used mixed models for our analysis and included relevant clinical characteristics.

One hundred and twenty-one patients of our sample had a history of migration which was consistently associated with more symptoms at baseline assessment. Patients with direct experiences of migration had the highest level of symptoms before therapy but also showed the largest decrease of symptoms during therapy (B=-0.09, SD=0.04, p=0.030). This interaction effect could be accounted for by our clinical variables. Patients with indirect experiences of migration did not differ from other patients in their level of improvement (B=-0.05, SD=0.04, p=0.149).

According to our preliminary data, migration does not seem to negatively affect the outcome of inpatient psychotherapy. Limitations of these promising findings are discussed together with the strong need for more advanced studies in this area of research.