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.
  • a Agrata Health and Education (AHEAD)-Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • b Asian College for Advance Studies, Purbanchal University, Lalitpur, Nepal
  • c National Open College, Pokhara University, Lalitpur, Nepal, Southeast Asia Development Actions Network (SADAN), Lalitpur, Nepal
  • d Colorado School of Public Health, University of Northern ColoradoCO, United States
  • 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.

Author Keywords

Elderly Left behind Children’s migration Nepalese Well-being

Index Keywords

Parents physical well-being Nepalese statistical analysis depression household adult child logistic regression analysis demography Population Dynamics correlation analysis mental health human wellbeing Self Report epidemiology Odds Ratio rural population controlled study social aspect priority journal health status Adult Children Aged social support chronic disease Cross-Sectional Studies Confidence interval cross-sectional study Humans psychology parent family separation male female Correlation of Data prevalence Article major clinical study adult migration Independent Living psychological well-being world health organization malnutrition Loneliness Emigration and Immigration Nepal geriatrics child parent relation health survey

Link
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