Association between Social support and Depression in Early Middle Adult Myanmar Migrant Workers

Introduction: It is common for migrant workers to work for difficult, dirty, and dangerous kinds of jobs. Therefore, migrant workers worldwide are commonly susceptible to depression. There are very limited studies focusing on the relationship between depression and social support among early middle-adult Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand. Objectives: The objective is to explore the prevalence of depression and to evaluate the association between social support and depression among early middle-adult Myanmar Migrant Workers. Methods: The study design was a cross-sectional study. From the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the sample size was around 112. Chi-square test was used for bivariate analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis was used for multivariate analysis. Results: Out of 112 total participants, the prevalence of depression was about 47.3%. From the result of multiple logistic regression, social support was associated with depression (adjusted odd ratio=2.48, 95% confidence interval=1.11-5.51; p=0.026). Conclusions: Based on the result, the participants with low social support were 2.48 times more likely to have depression than those with high social support. Therefore, it is recommended that social support is an important variable for reducing depression. Mental health care and social support services should be incorporated into reducing depression.