Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
Volume 8, Issue 3-4, 2018, Pages 154-161
Adult children’s migration and well-being of left behind Nepalese elderly parents (Article) (Open Access)
Ghimire S.* ,
Singh D.R. ,
Nath D. ,
Jeffers E.M. ,
Kaphle M.
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a
Agrata Health and Education (AHEAD)-Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal
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b
Asian College for Advance Studies, Purbanchal University, Lalitpur, Nepal
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c
National Open College, Pokhara University, Lalitpur, Nepal, Southeast Asia Development Actions Network (SADAN), Lalitpur, Nepal
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d
Colorado School of Public Health, University of Northern ColoradoCO, United States
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e
National Open College, Pokhara University, Lalitpur, Nepal
Abstract
The objective of this study is to assess whether adult children’s migration is associated with overall well-being of left-behind elderly parents in Nepal. A cross-sectional house-to-house survey was conducted among 260 community-dwelling elderly residents of Krishnapur municipality, Nepal. Binary logistic regression was used to identify whether migration of adult children was associated with elderly parent’s self-reported chronic diseases, depressive symptoms, perceived loneliness and social support. More than half of the study household (51.2%) had at least one adult migrant child. Compared to participants without a migrant child, participants with a migrant child had higher odds of self-reported chronic diseases (OR = 1.79, 95%CI: 0.91–3.54), presence of depressive symptoms (OR = 1.07, 95%CI: 0.64–1.77), and self-perceived loneliness (OR = 1.23, 95%CI: 1.06–1.42) but except for loneliness, the odds ratio for other indicators of well-being were not statistically significant. Although the literature posits an inverse relationship between adult children’s migration and the overall well-being of the elderly parents, in our study, adult children’s migration was not associated with inverse health outcomes among study participants. However, from a policy perspective, it should be understood that these observations may be transient since the family structure of Nepalese society is rapidly changing. © 2018 Atlantis Press International B.V.
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https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85050733428&doi=10.2991%2fj.jegh.2018.07.004&partnerID=40&md5=7f1eb1cd6ad190dae829027fdabd197e
DOI: 10.2991/j.jegh.2018.07.004
ISSN: 22106006
Cited by: 3
Original Language: English