Oral health inequality among Indonesian workers in South Korea: role of health insurance and discrimination factors

Abstract

Background The health of migrant workers is becoming an important public health issue. Although there are an increasing number of migrant workers in Korea, the health status in migrant populations remains unknown. The aims of this study were (1) to evaluate the association between income and self-rated oral health (SROH), and (2) to assess the role of health insurance and self-perceived discrimination in the association between income and SROH among Indonesian migrant workers in Korea. Methods Information about self-reported income, SROH, coverage/utilization of health insurance (HI), living difficulties related to oral health (LDROH), oral health literacy (OHL), and discrimination were obtained from Indonesian migrant workers in Korea (n = 248). The main explanatory variable was income, and SROH was an outcome variable. Logistic regression analyses were performed controlling for age, gender, HI, LDROH, OHL, and discrimination. The paths from income to SROH were analyzed using the Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM). Results Among Indonesian migrant workers, the lower income group had the highest probability of a poor SROH compared to the higher income group. The variables showing a high explanatory power were discrimination among the low income group and HI among the middle income group. In PLS-SEM, the variables such as HI, LDROH, OHL, and discrimination contributed 11% to explaining the association between income and SROH. Conclusion A monotonic gradient was revealed among migrant workers according to the association between income and SROH. Discrimination and HI contributed to oral health inequalities.

Determinants and inequality of recurrent aphthous stomatitis in an Indonesian population: a cross sectional study

“…A recent systematic review and meta-analysis reported that individuals of low SES had poorer OHRQoL, regardless of the economic classification of the country [ 30 ]. A previous study among Indonesian migrant workers in South Korea also highlighted the impact of SES in oral health [ 31 ]. According to the IFLS-5 data, the oral health of the Indonesian population is closely related to the SES.…”

Self-employment and health inequality of migrant workers

“…This paper uses concentration index to measure the health inequality among migrant workers. Based on the above calculation of the health and income rank variable, according to Donnell's method [31], the health concentration index (CI) is expressed as: where H i is the health of individual i, R i is the rank of income, H is the mean of the health variable H i , n is the sample size. The value of health concentration index CI is in the range of [− 1,1], and the health variable in this paper is a positive variable, that is, the larger the value, the better the health of the individual.…”

“…Schneck believed that self-employment was an important source of increasing income inequality in the labor market based on a German research [29]. Berkowitz and Novrinda showed that self-employed workers were more likely to be uncovered by health insurance [30,31]. A Polish study concluded that there were different types of health difference between self-employed and employed workers, with self-employed workers being more susceptible to mental health issues while employed workers are more susceptible to physical health issues [32].…”

An ethnographic study of a community dentistry network serving Latine migrant farmworkers in Vermont: Barriers and access to care during the COVID‐19 pandemic and beyond

“…Barriers to care include language barriers, difficulty getting an appointment, medical mistrust, racialization, immigration and law enforcement surveillance, cost of services, transportation issues and lack of awareness about one's rights to health care 4–6 . Similar barriers have been shown to seriously impede the quality of life of migrant workers in Canada, China and South Korea 7–9 . These barriers do not operate as standalone units but as what Heyman et al define as a web of effects 10 leading to more challenging situations than any one barrier on its own.…”

“…[4][5][6] Similar barriers have been shown to seriously impede the quality of life of migrant workers in Canada, China and South Korea. [7][8][9] These barriers do not operate as standalone units but as what Heyman et al define as a web of effects 10 leading to more challenging situations than any one barrier on its own. Most research on Latino/a/e migrant health has focused on areas with high Latine populations such as California, Florida, New York, Texas and Washington, and has spotlighted issues of workplace safety and injury, pesticide exposure, chronic disease, immigration enforcement and food and health insecurity.…”