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Perceived Discrimination and Smoking Among Rural-to-Urban Migrant Women in China

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Abstract

Smoking may be a coping mechanism for psychosocial stress caused by discrimination. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of rural-to-urban migrant women working as restaurant/hotel workers (RHWs) and those working as sex workers (FSWs) in 10 Chinese cities to investigate whether perceived discrimination is associated with smoking. We interviewed RHWs at medical examination clinics and FSWs at entertainment venues. Modified Poisson regression was used to estimate prevalence ratios. Of the 1,696 RHWs and 532 FSWs enrolled, 155 (9.1%) and 63 (11.8%) reported perceived discrimination, respectively. Perceived discrimination was independently associated with ever tried smoking (prevalence ratio [PR], 1.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31–2.23) and current smoking (PR, 2.52; 95% CI, 1.32–4.79) among RHWs and ever tried smoking (PR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.16–1.61) and current smoking (PR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.28–2.06) among FSWs. Perceived discrimination is associated with higher prevalence of smoking among rural-to-urban migrant women in China.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the China Centers for Disease Control staff who conducted data collection. This study was supported by the US National Institute of Health grant 1 R03 TW008361-01. The funding agency had no role in study design and the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and the writing of the article and the decision to submit it for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    Sanghyuk S. Shin & Ding Ding

  2. Institute of Basic Medical Sciences of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and School of Basic Medicine of Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China

    Xia Wan & Qian Wang

  3. San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, CA, USA

    H. Fisher Raymond

  4. Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China

    Huilin Liu & Gonghuan Yang

  5. Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA, 92182-4162, USA

    Thomas E. Novotny

Authors
  1. Sanghyuk S. Shin
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  2. Xia Wan
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  3. Qian Wang
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  4. H. Fisher Raymond
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  5. Huilin Liu
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  6. Ding Ding
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  7. Gonghuan Yang
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  8. Thomas E. Novotny
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Correspondence to Thomas E. Novotny.

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Shin, S.S., Wan, X., Wang, Q. et al. Perceived Discrimination and Smoking Among Rural-to-Urban Migrant Women in China. J Immigrant Minority Health 15, 132–140 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-012-9599-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-012-9599-1

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