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Dimensions of internal migration and their relationship to blood pressure in South Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2019

Chantel F. Pheiffer Open the ORCID record for Chantel F. Pheiffer [Opens in a new window] ,
Stephen T. McGarvey ,
Carren Ginsburg ,
Mark Collinson ,
F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé ,
Stephen Tollman  and
Michael J. White
Chantel F. Pheiffer*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
Stephen T. McGarvey
Affiliation:
International Health Institute, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
Carren Ginsburg
Affiliation:
MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), University of the Witwatersrand, Parktown, South Africa
Mark Collinson
Affiliation:
MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), University of the Witwatersrand, Parktown, South Africa
F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé
Affiliation:
MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), University of the Witwatersrand, Parktown, South Africa
Stephen Tollman
Affiliation:
MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), University of the Witwatersrand, Parktown, South Africa
Michael J. White
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: chantel_pheiffer@brown.edu
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Abstract

Hypertension prevalence is on the rise in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) like South Africa, and migration and its concomitant urbanization are often considered to be associated with this rise. However, relatively little is known about the relationship between blood pressure (BP) and internal migration – a highly prevalent population process in LMICs. This study employed data for a group of 194 adult men and women from an original pilot dataset drawn from the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System in north-east South Africa conducted in 2012. Migrants in the sample were identified, tracked and interviewed. The relationship between BP and migration distance and the number of months an individual spent away from his/her home village was estimated using robust OLS regression, controlling for a series of socioeconomic, health and behavioural characteristics. It was found that migrants who moved a longer distance and for longer durations had significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures compared with shorter-term migrants and those who remained nearby or in their home village. These associations remained robust and statistically significant when adjusting for measures of socioeconomic conditions, as well as body mass index and the number of meals consumed per day. Migration, both in terms of distance and time away, explained significant variation in the blood pressure of migrants in this typical South African context. The findings suggest the need for further studies of the nutritional and psycho-social factors associated with geographic mobility that may be important to understand rising hypertension levels in LMICs.

Keywords

Migration and social mobilityPopulation HealthDemography
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 51 , Issue 6 , November 2019 , pp. 827 - 842
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press, 2019 

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