Background: Rural-to-urban migration involves a high proportion of females because job opportunities for female\r\nmigrants have increased in urban industrial areas. Those who migrate may be healthier than those staying in the\r\nvillage and they may benefit from better health care services at destination, but the ââ?¬Ë?healthyââ?¬â?¢ effect can be\r\nreversed at destination due to migration-related health risk factors. The study aimed to explore the need for health\r\ncare services for reproductive tract infections (RTIs) among female migrants working in the Sai Dong industrial\r\nzone as well as their services utilization.\r\nMethods: The cross sectional study employed a mixed method approach. A cohort of 300 female migrants was\r\ninterviewed to collect quantitative data. Two focus groups and 20 in-depth interviews were conducted to collect\r\nqualitative data. We have used frequency and cross-tabulation techniques to analyze the quantitative data and the\r\nqualitative data was used to triangulate and to provide more in-depth information.\r\nResults: The needs for health care services for RTI were high as 25% of participants had RTI syndromes. Only 21.6%\r\nof female migrants having RTI syndromes ever seek helps for health care services. Barriers preventing migrants to\r\naccess services were traditional values, long working hours, lack of information, and high cost of services.\r\nEmployers had limited interests in reproductive health of female migrants, and there was ineffective collaboration\r\nbetween the local health system and enterprises. These barriers were partly caused by lack of health promotion\r\nprograms suitable for migrants. Most respondents needed more information on RTIs and preferred to receive these\r\nfrom their employers since they commonly work shifts - and spend most of their day time at work.\r\nConclusion: While RTIs are a common health problem among female migrant workers in industrial zones, female\r\nmigrants had many obstacles in accessing RTI care services. The findings from this study will help to design\r\nintervention models for RTI among this vulnerable group such as communication for behavioural impact of RTI\r\nhealth care, fostered collaboration between local health care services and employer enterprises, and on-site service\r\n(e.g. local or enterprise health clinics) strengthening.
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