Inequalities in sustainable ageing: functional mobility and depressive symptoms across migration subgroups among Russian-speaking migrants in Finland

Abstract Sustainable ageing depends on equitable opportunities to maintain physical, mental, and social well-being, yet older migrants are often treated as a homogeneous group. This study aimed to identify sociodemographic and migration-related subgroups among midlife and older Russian-speaking migrants in Finland, examine how these subgroups differed in functional mobility and depressive symptoms, and assess whether the association between functional mobility and depressive symptoms varied across subgroups and age groups. We used data from the Care, Health and Ageing of the Russian-Speaking Minority in Finland (CHARM) study. We conducted latent class/profile analyses, using three-step approaches to examine subgroup differences and associations, separately for participants aged under 65 years (n = 653) and 65 years or older (n = 492). In both age groups, two subgroups emerged: an established subgroup characterised by earlier migration, better local language proficiency, and no income support, and a vulnerable subgroup characterised by later migration, poorer local language proficiency, and receipt of income support. Male participants were more likely to belong to the vulnerable subgroups. Vulnerable migrants had poorer functional mobility among those aged 65 years or older, while depressive symptoms did not differ between subgroups in either age group. Poorer functional mobility was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, with larger estimated associations observed in the vulnerable subgroups, particularly among those under 65 years. These findings highlight heterogeneity within ageing migrant populations and suggest that inequalities across dimensions of sustainable ageing reflect interconnected physical, mental, and integration-related pathways.