abstract: 'Background: Rural-to-urban migration involves a high proportion of

  females because job opportunities for female migrants have increased in

  urban industrial areas. Those who migrate may be healthier than those

  staying in the village and they may benefit from better health care

  services at destination, but the `healthy'' effect can be reversed at

  destination due to migration-related health risk factors. The study

  aimed to explore the need for health care services for reproductive

  tract infections (RTIs) among female migrants working in the Sai Dong

  industrial zone as well as their services utilization.

  Methods: The cross sectional study employed a mixed method approach. A

  cohort of 300 female migrants was interviewed to collect quantitative

  data. Two focus groups and 20 in-depth interviews were conducted to

  collect qualitative data. We have used frequency and cross-tabulation

  techniques to analyze the quantitative data and the qualitative data was

  used to triangulate and to provide more in-depth information.

  Results: The needs for health care services for RTI were high as 25\% of

  participants had RTI syndromes. Only 21.6\% of female migrants having

  RTI syndromes ever seek helps for health care services. Barriers

  preventing migrants to access services were traditional values, long

  working hours, lack of information, and high cost of services. Employers

  had limited interests in reproductive health of female migrants, and

  there was ineffective collaboration between the local health system and

  enterprises. These barriers were partly caused by lack of health

  promotion programs suitable for migrants. Most respondents needed more

  information on RTIs and preferred to receive these from their employers

  since they commonly work shifts - and spend most of their day time at

  work.

  Conclusion: While RTIs are a common health problem among female migrant

  workers in industrial zones, female migrants had many obstacles in

  accessing RTI care services. The findings from this study will help to

  design intervention models for RTI among this vulnerable group such as

  communication for behavioural impact of RTI health care, fostered

  collaboration between local health care services and employer

  enterprises, and on-site service (e.g. local or enterprise health

  clinics) strengthening.'
affiliation: 'Le, ATK (Corresponding Author), Hanoi Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Epidemiol
  \& Biostat, 138 Giang Vo St, Ba Dinh Dist, Ha Noi, Vietnam.

  Le Anh Thi Kim; Lan Hoang Vu, Hanoi Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Epidemiol \& Biostat, Ba
  Dinh Dist, Ha Noi, Vietnam.

  Le Anh Thi Kim; Schelling, Esther, Swiss Trop \& Publ Hlth Inst, CH-4002 Basel,
  Switzerland.

  Le Anh Thi Kim; Schelling, Esther, Univ Basel, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland.

  Lien Thi Lan Pham, Long Bien Dist Hlth Ctr, Long Bien Dist, Ha Noi, Vietnam.'
article-number: '4'
author: Kim, Le Anh Thi and Pham, Lien Thi Lan and Vu, Lan Hoang and Schelling, Esther
author-email: anhhsph@gmail.com
author_list:
- family: Kim
  given: Le Anh Thi
- family: Pham
  given: Lien Thi Lan
- family: Vu
  given: Lan Hoang
- family: Schelling
  given: Esther
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1186/1742-4755-9-4
eissn: 1742-4755
files: []
journal: REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
keywords: 'RTIs; STIs; Female migrants; Industrial zones; Health care services;

  Viet Nam'
keywords-plus: MIGRATION
language: English
month: FEB 27
number-of-cited-references: '34'
orcid-numbers: Schelling, Esther/0000-0001-6444-0898
papis_id: 356a88b9e88f53e2457847341e7a5c83
ref: Kim2012healthservices
researcherid-numbers: Schelling, Esther/K-7990-2015
times-cited: '13'
title: 'Health services for reproductive tract infections among female migrant workers
  in industrial zones in Ha Noi, Viet Nam: an in-depth assessment'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000313499700001
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '4'
volume: '9'
web-of-science-categories: Public, Environmental \& Occupational Health
year: '2012'