1Assistant Professor, Chennai Medical College Hospital & Research Centre, Trichy
2Surviellence Medical Officer, NPSP, WHO
3Medical Intern, Department of Community Health, St John's Medical College, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
4Additional Professor, Community Medicine, Department of Community Health, St John's Medical College, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
5Associate Professor, Community Medicine, Department of Community Health, St John's Medical College, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
*Address for correspondence: Dr. D. Rock Britto, Department of Community Health, St John's Medical College, Bangalore-560034, Karnataka, India. E-mail: rockbritto@gmail.com
Online published on 14 October, 2016.
There are about 30 million migrant workers in India. Migrant workers contribute significantly to the unorganised sector of occupation. The stressors associated with migrant's lifestyle are language barriers, unpredictable nature of housing or work, being away from friends and family, worries about socialisation and education of their children. Migrants are more susceptible to mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and substance abuse. Migrants may use increased alcohol and other drugs to offset the stressors of migrant life, boredom, and feelings of depression and anxiety. Thus, mental health and alcohol use among migrants become a vicious cycle.
The Mental health status and alcohol use among migrant workers has been studied the least.
This study assesses the alcohol abuse, mental health status and associated factors among the internal migrant workers.
A cross sectional study was done among migrant workers staying in villages under Bangalore urban District, Karnataka, India. A sample size of 210 was estimated and the workers were selected from different work places like construction sites, quarries, rosegardens using non probability convenient sampling. The study tool consisted of an interview schedule with socio-demographic details and occupation. The mental health status was assessed using Modified MINI screen (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview). Alcoholism was measured using FIGS (Family Interview for Genetic studies) questionnaire. Chi square test and independent ‘t'test was used to analyse data as appropriate.
Among the 210 study subjects, 183 (87%) were males and 27 (13%) were females with mean age of 28.31 with S.D. of 9.52 and majority 130 (62%) were working in construction sites. Among the migrant workers it was observed that 40 (19%) were screened positive for mental health problems and 45 (21%) consumed alcohol. 4%, 2%, 1% of them were abusing, suffering from withdrawal, suffering from dependence of alcohol respectively. MMS positivity was associated with alcohol withdrawal, alcohol abuse, gender (more in females), with place of work (rose and brick factory), and health problems.
Among the study subjects, 40 (19%) were screened positive for mental health problems and 45 (21%) were currently consuming alcohol.
Migrant health, mental health, Alcohol use, Alcohol abuse, Alcohol dependence
