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A Scoping Review of the Health of East and Southeast Asian Female Marriage Migrants

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Abstract

The number of female marriage migrants in East and Southeast Asia has grown significantly over the past three decades. However, little is known about the health of this population. Following Arksey and O’Malley’s (Int J Soc Res Methodol 8(1):19–32, 2005) framework, a scoping review of English language research databases was used to synthesize knowledge on the health of Asian marriage migrants. This will be used to inform recommendations for health care practice and research. Fifty-five eligible studies were included and presented using five identified categories—mental health, women’s health and maternal–child health, public health, general well-being, and social challenges. Overall, studies consistently document that marriage migrants experience worse health outcomes, multiple barriers to health care services, and multilevel social challenges compared with the native population in the receiving countries.

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Acknowledgements

This review was supported by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing’s Center for Aging Research and Education. I thank Dr. Jan Greenberg, Dr. Susan Zahner, and Mr. Danny Koordi for their editorial support and comments that greatly improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 701 Highland Ave, Madison, WI, 53705, USA

    Zhiyuan Yu & Barbara Bowers

  2. Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Brenda S. A. Yeoh

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  1. Zhiyuan Yu
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Correspondence to Zhiyuan Yu.

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Yu, Z., Bowers, B. & Yeoh, B.S.A. A Scoping Review of the Health of East and Southeast Asian Female Marriage Migrants. J Immigrant Minority Health 22, 182–211 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-019-00901-w

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