Socioeconomic Disparities and Depression among Cambodian Migrant Workers in Thailand Chamroen Pall1, Laohasiriwong Wongsa2,*, Luenam Amornrat3, Rangseekajee Poonsri4 1Doctor of Public Health Program, Faculty of Public Health, KhonKaen University, Khon Kaen 2Faculty of Public Health, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 3Faculty of Public and Environmental Health, Huachiew Chalermprakiet University, Samut Prakan 4Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand *Corresponding Author: Wongsa Laohasiriwong, Faculty of Public Health, KhonKaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand e-mail: drwongsa@gamil.com
Online published on 23 December, 2019. Abstract Migrant workers poor working and living conditions have put them vulnerable to both physical and mental problems. However, little is known about the influence of socioeconomic conditions on depression of Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression and the influence of socioeconomic factors on depression among Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand. A cross-sectional of 1, 211 samples were selected by using a multi-stage random sampling from 2 provinces along Thai-Cambodia border to respond to a structured questionnaire interview. The multilevel logistic regression was used to determine the association between socioeconomic factors and depression when controlling other covariates, presenting adjusted oddsratio (AOR), 95% CI and p-value. Most of the Cambodian migrant workers had moderate to severe levels of depression (69.69%, 95%CI: 67.10 to 72.29). The socioeconomic factors that were associated with depression were: lived alone (AOR= 3.42; 95%CI: 2.01 to 5.82, p-value <0.001), a construction worker (AOR=2.11; 95%CI: 1.47 to 3.02, p-value <0.001), stayed in employer's accommodation (AOR=1.85; 95%CI: 1.31 to 2.62, p-value <0.001), had no formal education or finished primary education (AOR=1.63; 95%CI: 1.18 to 2.25, p-value = 0.003) had monthly income ≥6000 Baht (AOR=1.57; 95%CI: 1.037 to 2.37, p-value = 0.033). More than two-thirds of Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand had depression. The working and living conditions hardships and their adaptation abilities had influenced on the depression. Top Keywords Adaptation, Cambodian migrant workers, Depression, Socioeconomic disparities. Top |