PDF
ePub
Citation
Print
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.
REFERENCES
1. Statistics Korea. Current status of international marriage [Internet]. Seoul: Statistics Korea;2013. [cited 2013 April 29]. Available from:. http://www.index.go.kr/potal/main/EachDtlPageDetail.do?idx_cd=2430.
2. Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs. Current status of foreign residents [Internet]. Seoul: Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs;2014. [cited 2014 July 2]. Available from:. http://www.mospa.go.kr/frt/bbs/type001/commonSelectBoardArticle.do?bbsId=BBSMSTR_000000000014&nttId=42492.
3. Kim HR, Yeo JY, Jung JJ, Baek SH. Health status of marriage immigrant women and children from multicultural families and health policy recommendations. Seoul: Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs;2012. 276.
4. Kim GS, Moon SS. Perceived health status, health behavior and marital satisfaction in married immigrant women. Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing. 2011; 25(2):174–186.
5. Hong DAG, Chae OH. Family life and conflicts of female international marriage migrant. Journal of Korean Association of Human Ecology. 2006; 15(5):729–741.
6. Seo IJ, Park JS. Health promoting behaviors, health problems and self-rated health status in female marriage immigrant in Korea. Journal of Digital Convergence. 2013; 11(4):369–382.
7. Lee SR. Migration and health: A theoretical perspective. Goyang: IOM Migration Research and Training Centre;2011. p.36.
8. Kim HL. Health status of marriage-based immigrants in Korea and policy directions. Health and Welfare Policy Forum. 2010; 165:46–57.
9. Kondo N, Sembajwe G, Kawachi I, van Dam RM, Subramanian SV, Yamagata Z. Income inequality, mortality, and self rated health: Metaanalysis of multilevel studies. British Medical Journal. 2009; 339(7731):1178–1181.
10. Connelly JE, Philbrick JT, Smith GR Jr. Kaiser DL, Wymer A. Health perception of primary care patients and the influence on health care utilization. Medical Care. 1989; 27(3):s99–109.
11. Eun KH. A study on the health determining factors of female 'marriage-based immigrants' in Korea [master's thesis]. Seoul: Seoul National University;2012.
12. Kim WJ. Social participation and health among female marriage immigrants in South Korea. Journal of Community Welfare. 2014; 48:77–103.
13. Lee EA. International marriage women immigrants' perceived health status and plan of social support. International Conference of the Korean Sociological Association. 2009 Dec 18-19. Korea University, Korea.Seoul: Korea University;2009 Dec.p. 1483–1494.
14. Cho JE, Cho GJ. A study on changes of the effect of factors to married immigrant women's health: Multicultural Families Survey (2009, 2012). The Journal of Migration & Society. 2014; 7(2):5–28.
15. Yang YM, Wang HH. Acculturation and health related quality of life among Vietnamese immigrant women in transnational marriages in Taiwan. Journal of Transcultural Nursing. 2011; 22(4):405–413.
16. Kim SH. Analysis of affecting factors to health service utilization of married immigrant women [master's thesis]. Seoul: Yonsei University;2012.
17. Okafor MT, Carter-Pokras OD, Picot SJ, Zhan M. The relationship of language acculturation (English proficiency) to current self-rated health among African immigrant adults. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. 2013; 15(3):499–509.
18. Otiniano AD, Gee GC. Self-reported discrimination and health-related quality of life among Whites, Blacks, Mexicans and Central Americans. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. 2012; 14(2):189–197.
19. Salinero-Fort MA, Jimenez-Garcia R, del Otero-Sanz L, de Burgos-Lunar C, Chico-Moraleja RM, Martin-Madrazo C, et al. Self-reported health status in primary health care: The influence of immigration and other associated factors. PloS One. 2012; 7(6):e38462.
20. Subedi RP, Rosenberg MW. Determinants of the variations in self-reported health status among recent and more established immigrants in Canada. Social Science & Medicine. 2014; 115:103–110.
21. Yang SJ, Chee YK, Kim JA, An J. Metabolic syndrome and its related factors among Asian immigrant women in Korea. Nursing and Health Sciences. 2014; 16(3):373–380.
22. Jaung AH, Kim HJ, Jeong HJ. A study on the health status, social support and acculturative stress of Filipino marriage-migrant women. Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial Cooperation Society. 2011; 12(12):5509–5517.
23. Lee SR, Lee MS, Kim HJ. Health barrier for female marriage migrants in Korea, and health policy recommendations. Goyang: IOM Migration Research and Training Centre;2011. p.109.
24. Fiorillo D, Sabatini F. Quality and quantity: The role of social interactions in self-reported individual health. Social Science & Medicine. 2011; 73(1):1644–1652.
25. d'Hombres B, Rocco L, Suhrcke M, McKee M. Does social capital determine health? Evidence from eight transition countries. Health Economics. 2010; 19(1):56–74.
26. Kim HS, Kim HS. Depression in non-Korean women residing in South Korea following marriage to Korean men. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing. 2013; 27(3):148–155.
27. Tsai SY, Sun WJ. Evaluating the satisfaction of immigrant women from a rural community regarding family functioning and health-related quality of life. Women & Health. 2013; 53(2):135–153.
28. Almeida J, Molnar BE, Kawachi I, Subramanian SV. Ethnicity and nativity status as determinants of perceived social support: Testing the concept of familism. Social Science & Medicine. 2009; 68(10):1852–1858.
29. Chae SM, Park JW, Kang HS. Relationships of acculturative stress, depression, and social support to health-related quality of life in Vietnamese immigrant women in South Korea. Journal of Transcultural Nursing. 2014; 25(2):137–144.
30. Williams DR, Sternthal M. Understanding racial-ethnic disparities in health: Sociological contributions. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 2010; 51Suppl:S15–27.
Table 1.
Characteristics of Subjects (N=3,041)
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)
Table 4.
Factors Explaining Perceived Health Status (N=55,960)
XML Download