Aims: In the context of the Butajira Rural Health Programme (BRHP) in Ethiopia, which has maintained demographic surveillance in selected communities since 1987, this paper investigates patterns of migration and their consequences within that population over a ten year period 1987-1996. Methods & Results: Based on observations of over 336,000 person-years in nine rural villages and one small town, 48% of individuals migrated in or out of the study area at some stage, as recorded in monthly household visits. There was a net incidence of migration into the urban area, particularly among young adults. Mortality was higher among residents compared with in-migrants, with rates of 10.5 (95% CI 7.5 to 14.9) and 8.2 (95% CI 5.8 to 11.7) per 1,000 person-years respectively after adjustment for age, sex and area of residence, a rate ratio of 1.3. Fertility among in-migrant and resident women was similar, at rates of 0.26 and 0.28 births per reproductive year respectively. Conclusions: The causes of the observed differences in mortality are not clear, though they may be partly due to self-selection effects among migrants, and may have important implications for future health policy and planning in Ethiopia and other similar settings. © 2003, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.

Health transition Migration Fertility demography Ethiopia Urban Mortality Africa rural

Birth Rate Reproduction urban area rural area health care planning health care policy demography health survey Population Dynamics Population Surveillance human middle aged statistics controlled study priority journal comparative study Aged fertility rural health Urban Health Cross-Sectional Studies health Confidence interval cross-sectional study Humans classification Adolescent Infant, Newborn male preschool child female Infant Child, Preschool newborn Article Retrospective Studies Ethiopia adult migration Transients and Migrants retrospective study mortality Child