Socioeconomic Disparities and Depression among Cambodian Migrant Workers in Thailand

Migrant workers poor working and living conditions have put them vulnerable to both physical and mental problems. However, little is known about the influence of socioeconomic conditions on depression of Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression and the influence of socioeconomic factors on depression among Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand.

A cross-sectional of 1, 211 samples were selected by using a multi-stage random sampling from 2 provinces along Thai-Cambodia border to respond to a structured questionnaire interview. The multilevel logistic regression was used to determine the association between socioeconomic factors and depression when controlling other covariates, presenting adjusted oddsratio (AOR), 95% CI and p-value.

Most of the Cambodian migrant workers had moderate to severe levels of depression (69.69%, 95%CI: 67.10 to 72.29). The socioeconomic factors that were associated with depression were: lived alone (AOR= 3.42; 95%CI: 2.01 to 5.82, p-value <0.001), a construction worker (AOR=2.11; 95%CI: 1.47 to 3.02, p-value <0.001), stayed in employer's accommodation (AOR=1.85; 95%CI: 1.31 to 2.62, p-value <0.001), had no formal education or finished primary education (AOR=1.63; 95%CI: 1.18 to 2.25, p-value = 0.003) had monthly income ≥6000 Baht (AOR=1.57; 95%CI: 1.037 to 2.37, p-value = 0.033).

More than two-thirds of Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand had depression. The working and living conditions hardships and their adaptation abilities had influenced on the depression.