Sexual and reproductive health status and related knowledge among female migrant workers in Guangzhou, China: A cross-sectional survey

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the current sexual and reproductive health (SRH) status including SRH-related knowledge and associated factors, self-reported symptoms of reproductive tract infection (RTI), medical assistance seeking behavior, sexual experience and contraceptive use, reproductive information approach and reproductive service utilization among female migrant workers in Huangpu district, Guangzhou city, China. Study design: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2008 in eight factories, which were selected randomly from 32 eligible factories in the Huangpu district in Guangzhou. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the SRH status of migrant workers. Factors associated with the level of SRH knowledge were determined by a logistic regression model. Results: Of 1346 female migrant workers, 831(61.7%) were unmarried and 515 (38.3%) were married. 27.2% of the unmarried respondents and 40.2% of the married respondents had suffered self-reported RTI symptoms. Among unmarried respondents, the median knowledge score was 5 points, compared to 8 points for the married. For unmarried migrant workers, factors associated with the knowledge level were age, education level, access to SRH information and service, sexual experiences and RTI symptoms. For married migrant workers, factors associated with the knowledge level were age, education level, access to SRH services and RTI symptoms. Conclusions: A high prevalence of self-reported RTI symptoms and a low knowledge level were found among young female migrant workers. Unmarried migrant workers are more vulnerable to SRH problems. Those findings demand more specific interventions targeting female migrants and in particular the unmarried.