Health-Related Quality of Life and Health Service Utilization in Chinese Rural-to-Urban Migrant Workers

Author： Lu Chu-Hong   Luo Zhong-Cheng   Wang Jia-Ji   Zhong Jian-Hu   Wang Pei-Xi  

Publisher： MDPI

E-ISSN： 1660-4601|12|2|2205-2214

ISSN： 1660-4601

Source： International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol.12, Iss.2, 2015-02, pp. : 2205-2214

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Abstract

Objectives: The number of rural-to-urban migrant workers has been increasing rapidly in China over recent decades, but there is a scarcity of data on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and health service utilization among Chinese rural-to-urban migrant workers in comparison to local urban residents. We aimed to address this question. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 2315 rural-to-urban migrant workers and 2347 local urban residents in the Shenzhen-Dongguan economic zone (China) in 2013. Outcomes included HRQOL (measured by Health Survey Short Form 36) and health service utilization (self-reported). Results: Compared to local urban residents, rural-to-urban migrant workers had lower scores in all domains of HRQOL, and were more likely to report chronic illnesses (9.2% vs. 6.0%, adjusted OR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.28–2.04) and recent two-week morbidity (21.3% vs. 5.0%, adjusted OR = 5.41, 95% CI 4.26–6.88). Among individuals who reported sickness in the recent two weeks, migrant workers were much less likely to see a doctor (32.7% vs. 66.7%, adjusted OR = 0.21, 95% CI 0.13–0.36). Conclusions: Chinese rural-to-urban migrant workers have lower HRQOL, much more frequent morbidity, but are also much less likely to see a doctor in times of sickness as compared to local urban residents, indicating the existence of significant unmet medical care needs in this population.

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