Patterns of local migration and their consequences in a rural Ethiopian population.
OBJECTIVE
In the context of the Butajira Rural Health Programme (BRHP) in Ethiopia, which has maintained demographic surveillance in selected communities since 1987, this paper investigates patterns of migration and their consequences within that population over a ten year period 1987-1996.


RESULTS
Based on observations of over 336,000 person-years in nine rural villages and one small town, 48% of individuals migrated in or out of the study area at some stage, as recorded in monthly household visits. There was a net incidence of migration into the urban area, particularly among young adults. Mortality was higher among residents compared with in-migrants, with rates of 10.5 (95% CI 7.5 to 14.9) and 8.2 (95% CI 5.8 to 11.7) per 1,000 person-years respectively after adjustment for age, sex and area of residence, a rate ratio of 1.3. Fertility among in-migrant and resident women was similar, at rates of 0.26 and 0.28 births per reproductive year respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The causes of the observed differences in mortality are not clear, though they may be partly due to self-selection effects among migrants, and may have important implications for future health policy and planning in Ethiopia and other similar settings.
Byass
Peter
P
Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Sweden. peterbyass@aol.com
Berhane
Yemane
Y
Emmelin
Anders
A
Wall
Stig
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001723:Birth Rate; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012423:Rural Health / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data