Migration and health

Based on the theory of strain-anomie, this paper studies how marriage aspirations and the marriage squeeze jointly influence anomia among unmarried rural male migrant workers in the context of China’s gender imbalance. Multivariate analyses of data from a survey of Rural-Urban Migrants, in X City, China, show that unmarried rural male migrant workers have a high level of anomia when they have high marriage aspirations and feel the marriage squeeze simultaneously. This finding provides additional evidence that the marriage squeeze has a direct negative impact on unmarried rural male migrant workers.

Mexican immigrants systematically exhibit better mental health than U.S. born residents, including those with Mexican heritage. The robust finding is often attributed to the healthy migrant hypothesis. This argument, however, falsely presumes that the Mexican and U.S. populations have similar mental health traits. In this paper, we analyze data from a rare, nationally-representative sample of Mexicans surveyed in Mexico prior to migration and after arrival in the United States. Tests of within-person change allow us to assess 1) how migrants are selected on mental health and 2) how the process of migration changes mental health. We pay particular attention to gender differences in these processes. Our findings contradict the positive welfare interpretation of the mental health advantage observed among migrants. We observe that migration actually worsens the mental health of migrants and more so among women. We find no evidence of positive selection on mental health, further countering the “healthy migrant” hypothesis. Gender differences are discussed in the context of literature on migrant welfare.

Although the loneliness of both older adults and immigrants is frequently assumed, knowledge regarding the implications of immigration for loneliness in later life is limited. In particular, little attention has been directed to the impact of factors that might differentiate within the immigrant population. Using data from the 2007 General Social Survey (GSS-21) conducted by Statistics Canada, this study examined the effects of immigrant status, age at immigration and immigrant generation on loneliness among adults aged 60 and over (N = 5,477). Regression analyses (OLS) estimating both the general and age-specific effects of immigrant experience on loneliness, indicated that immigrants report higher levels of loneliness than native-born Canadians and that age at immigration and generational status also had an impact, but one that differed across age groups. Overall, immigration-related variables appeared less consequential for loneliness in the oldest-old (aged 80+) than in younger age groups. These findings attest to the significance of immigrant status for an understanding of loneliness in later life but suggest a need to acknowledge the diversity of immigrant experiences associated with life course factors such as age at immigration and generational status.

Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian are major migrant workers in Thailand, more than half did not legally registered. Health and health care provision is a major problem but there is no specific policy direction. This review aimed to describe health status of these workers.
An electronic search of studies in Thai and English in 15 years had been conducted to identify reports/publications related to health of these migrant workers. More than 30 studies had been reviewed.
These workers firstly suffered with infectious diseases related to housing and sanitation. Secondly, they had problems of severe infectious diseases i.e. malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS. Compliance to treatment was low due to their illegal status, language problems and difficulties in traveling. Recently, accident and workplace injuries were increased for men while illness and death related to pregnancies were suffered by women. Self treatment was their first choice either with or without Thai health insurance cards. Registration for Thai health insurance scheme was compulsory but less than half followed. When there is a need for hospital visit, nearby health facilities were chosen.

The research aims at studying the relation between forced migration and reproductive health (RH) outcomes. Focus group discussions and cross sectional survey of Syrian refugee women residing in Lebanon were done. The information collected related to their current reproductive status, their reproductive history during the conflict, their needs for services, their experiences with sexual and gender based violence, and their help seeking behaviors. Of the 452 women surveyed, 74 were pregnant during the conflict, several of them more than once, preterm delivery was high. The most common pregnancy related problem was anemia, abdominal pains and bleeding. As for RH diseases menstrual irregularities, dysmenorrhea and vaginal discharges were common. Prioritizing other members’ wellbeing was a major reason for not seeking medical help. Moreover, 31% of women had personal experience of violence (physical, sexual or psychological) and are currently experiencing IPV but half of them elected not to talk about abuse.

The present study examines the effects of Korean husband’s socioeconomic status (SES) on international migrant wife’s self-reported health (SRH) and life satisfaction in South Korea. Earlier studies show that spouse’s SES is an important factor for the respondent’s health-related outcomes. Due to their low SES and the commercialized international marriage process, migrant female spouses are presumed to have a high dependence on their Korean husbands and therefore suffer a resultantly unequal relationship within the marriage. Thus, we expect that the SES of the husband plays a significant role in determining marriage migrant’s health and life satisfaction. The data to be used is drawn from the National Survey on Multicultural Families 2009, conducted in Korea. This study analyzes Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Japanese and Korean Chinese female marriage migrants aged 14 and over, living in Korea in 2009 (n=49,087). To address the independent effects of Korean husband’s SES, we include three dimensions of covariates: foreign wife’s characteristics, Korean husband’s characteristics and couple’s characteristics. The results from logistic regression models suggest that there are significant disparities of SRH among female migrant partners in relation to the Korean husband’s educational attainment .

Previous studies have shown that HIV prevalence rates are relatively high while condom use is low among migrant communities in South Africa (Zuma 2003, Weltz 2007, IOM 2008). This study seeks to investigate factors associated with condom use in selected commercial farms in LImpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa. It uses data obtained from the Integrated Biological and Behavioral Surveillance Survey (IBBSS) implemented by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in 2010 among 2810 farm workers. Statistical analyses are done at univariate, bivariate and multivariate levels, the main model to be used being logistic regression. The outcome variable is condom use at the last intercourse while the explanatory variables include sex, age, marital status, financial stability, sexual abuse, access to free condoms, transactional sex and xenophobic experience. Since these factors define migrants vulnerability in the host country, the xepected results are that these factors reduce the likelihood of condom use among migrants. The study seeks to establish how these factors vary in influence between migrant men and women in commercial farms and hence contribute to the ongoing discussion on HIV prevention among migrant communities.

This paper aims to deepen the link between migrant health and social context. Many
studies tried to understand migrant longevity in Western countries but not always with
satisfying results. Actually, there is an high heterogeneity among migrants which could
not be fully explained by the usual determinants of mortality. In a previous work, we
have shown the relevance of the context when trying to approach migrant’s mortality.
We suppose the local environment, the place where social and cultural interactions take
place, to be a key feature in explaining migrant inequalities in length of life.
Using census and mortality data on the foreigners living in Switzerland between
2000 and 2008, we try to assess the impact of the neighborhood on migrant health
outcomes. In a multilevel approach, we estimate the contribution of the social and
cultural context versus the individual characteristics on explaining inequalities among
migrant populations. We expect the social and cultural context to be a main component
to approach the vulnerability of migrants.

In this study we incorporate a life course perspective into immigrants’ health assimilation. We examine whether age at migration predicts current smoking and binge drinking and moderates the effect of length of residence on these two health behaviors using a nationally representative sample (N=7,397). Immigrant groups include those from Latin America/Caribbean, East and South Asia/Pacific/Oceania, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe/Central Asia, and Middle East/North Africa. Multivariate logistic regressions are estimated. Results show that age at migration matters in a gendered way across immigrant groups. Arriving at age 0-9 is directly associated with higher odds of binge drinking among adult women. Among adult men, age at migration moderates the association between length of residence and both smoking and binge drinking. Length of residence has more detrimental effects for adolescent migrants (arriving at age 10-18) on smoking, while its detrimental effects are more pronounced for childhood migrants (arriving at age 0-9) on binge drinking. We conclude that adolescence and childhood are critical life stages that are associated with different effects of length of residence when looking at smoking and binge drinking among immigrants.

The relationships between migration and health are multiple. There is growing evidence, albeit incomplete, that the process of migration and health of individuals and communities are inextricably intertwined in complex ways, with implications for those who move and those who are left behind.It is believed that migrants from rural to urban areas may be particularly vulnerable to developing obesity and diabetes, but little robust information to examine this hypothesis exists. Epidemiologists have traditionally hypothesised the health consequences of migration in terms of exposures experienced in the home country; exposures acquired in the new country; health or disease selection of those who migrate; and, exposures due to the process of migration itself. However, migration as an “exposure” is complex. The usual typologies of migrant – settler, contract worker, student, professional, illegal immigrant and refugee - are likely to be of less value in understanding health consequences than the process of migration. Age at migration and gender are likely to be key factors, but the speed, reasons for migration, together with the social disruption involved, might be expected to influence the health consequences experienced.