Journal List > Korean J Women Health Nurs > v.21(1) > 1089520

Yun and Kang: Factors Influencing Married Immigrant Women's Perceived Health Status: The National Survey of Multicultural Families 2012

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that influence married female immigrants' perceived health status.

Methods

This study was a retrospective review of dataset from the 2012 National Multicultural Family Survey in Korea. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, an analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple regression with the data of 3,014 married female immigrants.

Results

Multiple regression analysis showed that demographic factors (age, education level, nationality, period of residency in Korea, and residential area), socio-economical factors (monthly family income, employment, support from the government for basic living, and Medicaid), social support factors (marital conflict, satisfaction with family relationships, some one to talk about self or family matters, meeting with homeland friend, and participation in community meeting), and immigration factors (life satisfaction, experience of social discrimination, and difficulties with living and using medical care) were associated with perceived health status.

Conclusion

It is important to pay closer attention to immigrant women who have low economic status, less social support, experience difficulties with living in Korea and using medical care. An effective support system for this population should be developed in order to help them successfully transition.

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Figure 1.
Process of subjects selection.
kjwhn-21-32f1.tif
Table 1.
Characteristics of Subjects (N=3,041)
Factors Characteristics Categories n (%) M±SD
Demographic Age (year) <25 866 (28.5) 30.80±9.64
factor   25~<30 925 (30.4)  
    30~<35 489 (16.1)  
    35~<40 223 (7.3)  
    40~<50 351 (11.5)  
    ≥50 187 (6.1)  
  Education ≤Elementary school 357 (11.7)  
    Middle school 895 (29.4)  
    High school 1,257 (41.3)  
    ≥University 532 (17.5)  
  Nationality Chinese 627 (20.6)  
    Korean-Chinese 380 (12.5)  
    Vietnam 1,018 (33.5)  
    Philippines 540 (17.8)  
    Cambodia 476 (15.7)  
  Period of residency <2 499 (16.4) 4.09±3.12
  in Korea (year) 2~<5 1,528 (50.2)  
    5~<10 814 (26.8)  
    ≥10 200 (6.6)  
  Residential area Urban 1,778 (58.5)  
    Rural 1,263 (41.5)  
Socio-economical Monthly family income <100 279 (9.2)  
factor (10,000 won) 100~<200 1,036 (34.1)  
    200~<300 1,098 (36.1)  
    300~<400 414 (13.6)  
    400~<500 129 (4.2)  
    ≥500 85 (2.8)  
  Employment Not employed 1,813 (59.6)  
    Employed 1,228 (40.4)  
  Governmental support No 2,927 (96.3)  
  for basic living Yes 114 (3.7)  
  Medicaid No 2,928 (96.3)  
    Yes 113 (3.7)  
Social support Marital conflict No 1,032 (33.9)  
factor   Yes 2,009 (66.1)  
  Satisfaction with spouse Never satisfied 33 (1.1) 4.22±0.91
    Not satisfied 52 (1.7)  
    Moderate 641 (21.1)  
    Satisfied 793 (26.1)  
    Very satisfied 1,522 (50.0)  
  Satisfaction with children Never satisfied 16 (0.5) 4.06±0.98
    Not satisfied 38 (1.2)  
    Moderate 1,175 (38.6)  
    Satisfied 341 (11.2)  
    Very satisfied 1,471 (48.4)  
  Satisfaction with parents-in-law Never satisfied 64 (2.1) 3.71±1.00
    Not satisfied 133 (4.4)  
    Moderate 1,316 (43.3)  
    Satisfied 643 (21.1)  
    Very satisfied 885 (29.1)  
  Satisfaction with sibling-in-law Never satisfied 85 (2.8) 3.71±1.03
    Not satisfied 149 (4.9)  
    Moderate 1,207 (39.7)  
    Satisfied 713 (23.4)  
    Very satisfied 887 (29.2)  
Social support Someone to talk No 557 (18.3)  
factor about matters Yes 2,484 (81.7)  
  Meeting with No 1,189 (39.1)  
  homeland friend Yes 1,852 (60.9)  
  Participation No 2,673 (87.9)  
  in community meeting Yes 368 (12.1)  
  Usage of multicultural family No 1,243 (40.9)  
  support center Yes 1,798 (59.1)  
  Experience of education and No 839 (27.6)  
  support service Yes 2,202 (72.4)  
Immigration Life satisfaction Never satisfied 38 (1.2) 3.82±0.92
factor   Not satisfied 108 (3.6)  
    Moderate 1,074 (35.3)  
    Satisfied 979 (32.2)  
    Very satisfied 842 (27.7)  
  Experience of social No 1,885 (62.0)  
  discrimination Yes 1,156 (38.0)  
  Difficulties Family conflict No 2,689 (88.4)  
    Yes 352 (11.6)  
  Economical No 2,292 (75.4)  
    Yes 749 (24.6)  
  Language No 1,204 (39.6)  
    Yes 1,837 (60.4)  
  Difficulties with No difficulties 1,348 (44.3)  
  using medical care Communication 1,201 (39.5)  
    Complicated process 118 (3.9)  
    Cost 246 (8.1)  
    Traffic 128 (4.2)  
Table 2.
Perceived Health Status (N=3,041)
Variable Categories n (%) M±SD
Perceived Very bad 30 (1.0) 4.12±0.98
health status Bad 140 (4.6)  
  Moderate 697 (22.9)  
  Good 739 (24.2)  
  Very good 1,438 (47.3)  
Table 3.
Relationship between Perceived Health Status and Study Variables (N=55,960)
Variables Perceived health status
r (p)
Life satisfaction .26 (<.001)
Satisfaction with spouse .22 (<.001)
Satisfaction with children .16 (<.001)
Satisfaction with parents-in-law .19 (<.001)
Satisfaction with sibling-in-law .17 (<.001)
Monthly family income .11 (<.001)
Table 4.
Factors Explaining Perceived Health Status (N=55,960)
Factor Variables B SE β t p
  (Constant) 2.93 .05   67.12 <.001
Demographic Age -0.12 .00 -.20 -33.50 <.001
factor Education 0.08 .01 .07 15.34 <.001
  Nationality (Korean-Chinese=0)          
  China 0.07 .01 .03 5.37 <.001
  Vietnam 0.09 .02 .04 5.66 <.001
  Philippines 0.13 .02 .04 7.08 <.001
  Cambodia 0.01 .02 .00 0.63 .529
  Period of residency in Korea -0.03 .01 -.02 -5.13 <.001
  Residential area (Urban=0) 0.07 .01 .03 8.24 <.001
Socio- Monthly family income 0.02 .00 .03 5.98 <.001
economical factor Employment (No=0) 0.16 .01 .08 18.85 <.001
  Governmental support for basic living (No=0) -0.13 .03 -.02 -4.50 <.001
  Medicaid (No=0) -0.26 .03 -.05 -9.30 <.001
Social Marital conflict (No=0) -0.09 .01 -.04 -9.70 <.001
support factor Satisfaction with spouse 0.05 .01 .04 8.61 <.001
  Satisfaction with children 0.06 .00 .06 14.71 <.001
  Satisfaction with parents-in-law 0.04 .01 .04 7.03 <.001
  Satisfaction with sibling-in-law 0.02 .01 .02 2.72 .007
  Someone to talk about matters (No=0) 0.13 .01 .05 12.55 <.001
  Meeting with homeland friend (No=0) 0.03 .01 .02 4.00 <.001
  Participation in community meeting (No=0) -0.13 .01 -.04 -10.25 <.001
  Usage of multicultural family support center (No=0) 0.01 .01 .00 0.63 .527
  Experience of education and support service (No=0) 0.01 .01 .01 0.97 .333
Immigration Life satisfaction 0.15 .01 .14 30.61 <.001
factor Experience of social discrimination (No=0) -0.10 .01 -.05 -12.63 <.001
  Difficulties          
  Family conflict (No=0) -0.07 .01 -.02 -5.33 <.001
  Economical (No=0) -0.10 .01 -.04 -10.20 <.001
  Language (No=0) -0.04 .01 -.02 -3.85 <.001
  Difficulties with using medical care (No=0)          
  Communication -0.15 .01 -.07 -15.50 <.001
  Complicated process -0.16 .02 -.03 -7.99 <.001
  Cost -0.46 .01 -.13 -31.88 <.001
  Traffic -0.13 .02 -.02 -6.09 <.001
  Adj R2=.19, F=422.21, p<.001
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