ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2011
Improved pregnancy outcome in refugees and migrants despite low literacy on the Thai-Burmese border: results of three cross-sectional surveys.
Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Delivering maternal and neonatal health interventions in conflict settings: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2021Pooled it
- Using the teach-back method to improve postpartum maternal-infant health among women with limited maternal health literacy: a randomized controlled study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Trial
- Resolving the cause of recurrent Plasmodium vivax malaria probabilistically.Nature communications · 2019Trial
- A mixed-methods evaluation of outreach service provision by the "Strengthening Migrant Access to Reproductive Health in Thailand" Initiative, 2020-2024.Frontiers in global women's health · 2026Article
- Cohort Profile: the SMRU Refugee and Migrant Pregnancy Study in Western Thailand and Eastern Myanmar.Wellcome open research · 2026Article
- Predictors of antenatal care utilization among the Rohingya population in the refugee camps of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.Conflict and health · 2025Article
- Impact of health literacy on pregnancy outcomes in socioeconomically disadvantaged and ethnic minority populations: A scoping review.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2025Article
- COVID-19 pandemic, pregnancy care, perinatal outcomes in Eastern Myanmar and North-Western Thailand: a retrospective marginalised population cohort.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Persistent depression in pregnant refugee and migrant women living along the Thai-Myanmar Border: a secondary qualitative analysis.Wellcome open research · 2022Article
- Article
- Feeding practices and risk factors for chronic infant undernutrition among refugees and migrants along the Thailand-Myanmar border: a mixed-methods study.BMC public health · 2019Article
- The Healthy Baby Flipbook: piloting home-based counseling for refugee mothers to improve infant feeding and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices.Global health action · 2019Article
- Article
- Folate supplementation to prevent birth abnormalities: evaluating a community-based participatory action plan for refugees and migrant workers on the Thailand-Myanmar border.Public health · 2018Article
- Migrant perinatal depression study: a prospective cohort study of perinatal depression on the Thai-Myanmar border.BMJ open · 2018Article
- 'Because the baby asks for it': a mixed-methods study on local perceptions toward nutrition during pregnancy among marginalised migrant women along the Myanmar-Thailand border.Global health action · 2018Article
- Trends and birth outcomes in adolescent refugees and migrants on the Thailand-Myanmar border, 1986-2016: an observational study.Wellcome open research · 2018Article
- Article
- Validation of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) on the Thai-Myanmar border.Tropical doctor · 2017Article
- Longer exposure to a new refugee food ration is associated with reduced prevalence of small for gestational age: results from 2 cross-sectional surveys on the Thailand-Myanmar border.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2017Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMaternal and infant health has been associated with maternal education level, which is highly associated with literacy. We aimed at estimating literacy rates among reproductive age women attending antenatal clinics in camps for refugees and in migrant clinics in Tak province, north-western Thailand, to determine whether illiteracy had an impact on birth outcomes.
methodsThree reading assessments were conducted using an identical method each time, in 1995-97, 2003 and 2008. Midwives chose at random one of four pre-set sentences. Each woman was asked to read aloud and scoring was based on a "pass/fail" system. Pregnancy outcomes were compared with maternal literacy rate.
resultsOverall, 47% (1149/2424) of women were able to read. A significant improvement was observed among migrant (34% in 2003 vs. 46% in 2008, p = 0.01), but not refugee (47% in 1995-97, 49% in 2003, and 51% in 2008) women. Literate women were significantly more likely to be of non-Karen ethnicity, primigravidae, non-smokers, to remain free from malaria during pregnancy and to deliver in a health clinic. Significant improvements in pregnancy outcome (reductions in premature births, low birth weight newborns and neonatal death) between 1995-97 and 2003 were unrelated to literacy.
conclusionsSignificant reductions in poor pregnancy outcome over time have not been driven by changes in literacy rates, which have remained low. Access to early diagnosis and treatment of malaria in this population, and delivery with skilled birth attendants, despite ongoing low literacy, appears to have played a significant role.
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