Journal of the Formosan Medical Association
Volume 116, Issue 2, 2017, Pages 90-98

Association between adverse mental health and an unhealthy lifestyle in rural-to-urban migrant workers in Shanghai (Article) (Open Access)

Yang H. , Gao J. , Wang T. , Yang L. , Liu Y. , Shen Y. , Gong J. , Dai W. , Zhou J. , Gu J. , Pan Z.* , Zhu S.
  • a Department of General Practice, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
  • b Center of Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-based Medicine, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
  • c Department of General Practice, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
  • d Department of General Practice, Xinjing Community Health Service Center, Shanghai, China
  • e Department of General Practice, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
  • f Department of General Practice, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
  • g Department of General Practice, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
  • h Department of General Practice, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
  • i Department of General Practice, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
  • j Department of General Practice, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
  • k Department of General Practice, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
  • l Department of General Practice, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Abstract

Background/purpose The association between adverse mental health and unhealthy lifestyle behaviors in migrant workers remains poorly defined in Chinese rural-to-urban migrants. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted regarding health-related behaviors in 5484 migrants (51.3% males) employed in Shanghai for at least 6 months. The Chinese version of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) was used to assess migrant mental health status. Logistic regression was applied to determine the contribution of adverse mental health to lifestyle behaviors. Results Of the 5484 migrants, 21.1% had potential mental health problems and 63.1% had an unhealthy lifestyle. The three most prevalent mental disorders were obsessions–compulsions (O–C; 13.7%; 751/5484), interpersonal sensitivity (I-S; 11.0%; 603/5484), and hostility (HOS; 10.8%; 590/5484). Compared with the male participants, the female participants exhibited significantly increased mean scores for phobic anxiety (PHOB) and anxiety (ANX) (p < 0.001). Logistic regression indicated that after adjustment for potential confounding factors in both genders, an unhealthy lifestyle score was significantly associated with all nine subscales of the SCL-90-R. The male participants with psychoticism [PSY; odds ratio (OR) = 4.908, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.474–9.735], ANX (OR = 4.022, 95% CI 2.151–7.518), or depression (DEP; OR = 3.378, 95% CI 2.079–5.487) were the most likely to have an unhealthy lifestyle. In the female participants, an unhealthy lifestyle was most associated with HOS (OR = 2.868, 95% CI 2.155–3.819), PSY (OR = 2.783, 95% CI 1.870–4.141), or DEP (OR = 2.650, 95% CI 1.960–3.582). Conclusion Lifestyle behaviors were significantly associated with mental health in rural-to-urban migrant workers, and these findings indicate the need to develop targeted psychological interventions to foster healthy lifestyles in migrants. © 2016

Author Keywords

Lifestyle Mental health Migrant workers Shanghai

Index Keywords

urban population China depression lifestyle Chinese Life Style phobia alcohol consumption Population Dynamics mental health human paranoia Health Behavior Odds Ratio psychosis obsessive compulsive disorder rural population controlled study Logistic Models Mental Disorders Cross-Sectional Studies Surveys and Questionnaires Young Adult migrant worker Symptom Checklist 90 cross-sectional study psychology smoking Humans male female Socioeconomic Factors psychological rating scale socioeconomics Psychiatric Status Rating Scales eating habit questionnaire Article sleep time adult major clinical study migration statistical model Transients and Migrants hostility somatization
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84965045900&doi=10.1016%2fj.jfma.2016.03.004&partnerID=40&md5=b41e057ce173bee742b974addfa2fc7c
DOI: 10.1016/j.jfma.2016.03.004
ISSN: 09296646
Cited by: 8
Original Language: English