Health Seeking Behaviours among Myanmar Migrant Workers in Ranong Province, Thailand

Abstract

This study was conducted to access the health seeking behaviours among Myanmar migrant workers in Ranong Province, Thailand. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire to 388 Myanmar migrant workers during February 2009. Buying drugs from a drug store is the most common health seeking behaviours for the perceived minor health problems while going to the health centers for major health problems. Half of them stated they would go to the health centers only when their conditions get worse. Individual characteristics such as gender, occupation, registration status and place of resident were significantly associated with the going to the health centers with the p-values of 0.038, <0.001, 0.043 and <0.001 respectively. There also were significant associations between going to the health centers and accessibility to the healthcare services such as presence of health insurance, time taken to travel to the health centers and consultation fees (p-values 0.007, 0.001 and 0.004 respectively). Among the health centers, private clinics were preferred more than Government hospital and NGO clinics. Providing more health insurances and information on the coverage and benefits of them would be beneficial. Training and regular supervision of the drug stores are needed. Further studies of health seeking behaviours in other working groups and those who are not working should be carried out. Qualitative study on why migrants prefer the private clinics should also be undertaken.