Milken Institute School of Public Health Poster Presentations (Marvin Center & Video)
Effects of Urbanization on Health Status Among China Migrant Workers: A Systematic Review
Poster Number
37
Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
3-2016
Abstract
China’s rapid urbanization and economic prosperity galvanized one of the largest worker migrations from rural-to-urban cities. A major driver of this population shift is an increase in job opportunities found in industries, such as construction or manufacturing. In addition to the financial and societal stress of moving to a new city, rural-to-urban migrant workers face many barriers, including a lack of worker knowledge in industrial settings, little-to-no safety training in hazardous positions, and lack of affordable health care. Because of these upstream factors that hinder migrant workers’ ability to protect themselves, a systematic review was conducted to identify migrant workers’ overall health status and needs compared to non-migrant workers in China. Three databases were used: Scopus, CINAHL, and PubMed. Twelve articles remained after applying the inclusion criteria. Seven of the twelve articles examined mental health status, four examined health service utilization and awareness, and one examined work ability amongst migrant workers. Of the seven mental health studies, three found that migrant workers exhibited better mental health whereas four found worse mental health indicators when compared to their urban counterparts. Four studies found health service utilization to be lower compared to non-migrant workers. Lastly, one study found the work abilities of migrant workers to be affected by social support and mental health. Across the studies, age and social support were common factors that had a strong influence on migrant workers’ mental health status, health service utilization, and work ability. The presence of the “healthy worker effect” may lead to an underestimation of the findings on migrant workers’ health status and needs; thus, warranting the critical need for additional longitudinal studies. Overall, this study provides a better understanding of migrant worker health, and a strong foundation to support future research in this growing field.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Open Access
1
Effects of Urbanization on Health Status Among China Migrant Workers: A Systematic Review
China’s rapid urbanization and economic prosperity galvanized one of the largest worker migrations from rural-to-urban cities. A major driver of this population shift is an increase in job opportunities found in industries, such as construction or manufacturing. In addition to the financial and societal stress of moving to a new city, rural-to-urban migrant workers face many barriers, including a lack of worker knowledge in industrial settings, little-to-no safety training in hazardous positions, and lack of affordable health care. Because of these upstream factors that hinder migrant workers’ ability to protect themselves, a systematic review was conducted to identify migrant workers’ overall health status and needs compared to non-migrant workers in China. Three databases were used: Scopus, CINAHL, and PubMed. Twelve articles remained after applying the inclusion criteria. Seven of the twelve articles examined mental health status, four examined health service utilization and awareness, and one examined work ability amongst migrant workers. Of the seven mental health studies, three found that migrant workers exhibited better mental health whereas four found worse mental health indicators when compared to their urban counterparts. Four studies found health service utilization to be lower compared to non-migrant workers. Lastly, one study found the work abilities of migrant workers to be affected by social support and mental health. Across the studies, age and social support were common factors that had a strong influence on migrant workers’ mental health status, health service utilization, and work ability. The presence of the “healthy worker effect” may lead to an underestimation of the findings on migrant workers’ health status and needs; thus, warranting the critical need for additional longitudinal studies. Overall, this study provides a better understanding of migrant worker health, and a strong foundation to support future research in this growing field.
Comments
Presented at: GW Research Days 2016