Impacts of Rural to Urban Migration on the Health of Young Adult Migrants in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Mark VanLandingham, Tulane University

The rural to urban migration experience is believed to have many health-related effects on the migrants. We employ a widely used health assessment instrument, the SF-36, to attempt a multidimensional study of these potential impacts. This instrument is designed to produce indices for several key dimensions of health status in healthy populations. These health dimensions include physical functioning, role limitations due to physical health problems, bodily pain, social functioning, general mental health, role limitations due to emotional problems, vitality, energy, fatigue, and general health perceptions; all of these are key health outcomes of interest for young adult migrants. The paper compares the health status of 77 recent migrants living in Ho Chi Minh City with 100 long term urban residents in the city. In addition to the data on health status, we analyze detailed background information on wealth, social status, social networks, occupation, reasons for moving, and remittances.