Mental Well-Being and Its Associated Factors Among Myanmar Migrant Workers in Penang, Malaysia

Abstract

International migration has become a global phenomenon bringing with it complex and interrelated issues related to the physical and mental well-being of the people involved. This study investigated the mental well-being and factors associated with mental health among Myanmar migrant workers (MMW) in Malaysia. The cross-sectional study was conducted in Penang, Malaysia by using the WHO-5 Well-Being Index Scale (WHO-5) and the Mental Health subscale of 36 items in the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Among 192 migrant workers who were understudied, 79.2% had poor mental well-being according to the WHO-5 scale. The duration of stay in Malaysia and without receiving financial aid from their employers despite having a physical illness were significantly associated with poor mental well-being. Mental health support groups should target migrant workers for mental health education and find ways to provide assistance for them. Furthermore, premigration training should be delivered at the country of origin that also provides information on the availability of mental health support in the host country.

Perceived mental health, wellbeing and associated factors among Nepali migrant and non-migrant workers: A qualitative study

“…The findings show that migrant workers encounter acute diseases that may last for short periods, whereas the non-migrants suffer from more long term disease burden. This finding is in line with the increasing trend of non-communicable diseases among the Nepalese population [22] and also, high susceptibility to diabetes, chronic kidney and cardiovascular diseases among South Asian populations [23] and may indicate serious public health risk among the population at large.…”

Perceived mental health, wellbeing and associated factors among Nepali male migrant and non-migrant workers: A qualitative study

“…Study findings further show that the both migrant and non-migrant workers have little knowledge about mental illness, and its long-term impact. Previous studies conducted among Indonesian ( Lu, 2010 ), Myanmar ( Htay et al, 2020 ) and cross-border Nepalese ( IOM Nepal 2019 ) migrant workers revealed the consistent findings that migrant workers are more at risk of developing adverse mental health conditions than non-migrants. Limited knowledge about mental health can be explained as most of Nepalese labor migrant and non-migrant workers are from low educational background and they may not be fully aware about mental health problems and associated risks.…”

Prevalence of common mental health issues among migrant workers: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Two studies were conducted in each of these countries: Singapore [ 43 , 44 ], Hong Kong [ 45 , 46 ], Italy [ 47 , 48 ], The United States of America [ 49 , 50 ], Spain [ 51 , 52 ] and United Kingdom [ 53 , 54 ]. The remaining studies were conducted in Israel [ 55 ], India [ 56 ], South Korea [ 57 ], Malaysia [ 58 ], Thailand [ 59 ], Japan [ 60 ], Norway [ 61 ], Ethiopia [ 62 ], Chile [ 63 ] and China [ 64 ].…”

“…The articles’ scores range from seven to nine stars. Of the 18 studies, 17 could be regarded as good quality [ 38 , 39 , 41 – 43 , 46 , 48 , 54 , 55 – 57 , 59 – 64 ] and only one was scored to be of poor quality [ 58 ]. The summary of study quality for longitudinal studies assessed using the NOS scale was presented in Table 2 .…”

“…Nine studies explored the presence of depression among migrant workers [ 41 , 48 – 50 , 57 , 58 , 64 , 65 ]. The prevalence of depression among Myanmar migrant workers in Malaysia was 70.8% (N = 136) [ 58 ]. Chen et al [ 64 ] found the prevalence of depression among migrant workers in China was 24.3%.…”