SynthesisBMJ global health2023
Drivers of health workers' migration, intention to migrate and non-migration from low/middle-income countries, 1970-2022: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMJ global health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pushed, Pulled, and Moored: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Migration Intentions Among Medical Trainees in the Arab Region.Journal of epidemiology and global health · 2026Pooled it
- `This is our country and somehow, we have to make it work': a sequential explanatory mixed-methods study of the enablers of non-migration and return migration in a cohort of Nigerian medical doctors and dentists.Global health action · 2026Article
- Global, regional, and national impact of epidemic disasters on health workforce equality between 1990 and 2019: An ecological and modeling study.PLoS medicine · 2026Article
- Molecular prevalence and socioeconomic, demographic, and behavioral risk factors ofIJID regions · 2026Article
- Producing Mobility, Withholding Authority: Epistemic Drain and Nursing Sovereignty in Nepal.Nursing philosophy : an international journal for healthcare professionals · 2026Article
- The global and domestic in policy: Impacts on medical education and migration.Clinical medicine (London, England) · 2026Review
- Influence of Early Exposure and Educational Gaps on Medical Students: A Career-Driven Strategy for Aspiring Neurosurgeons.Asian journal of neurosurgery · 2026Article
- Exploring nurses' perceptions of cross-border mobility based on the cultural homology background: a qualitative descriptive study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- An online survey of the structure and delivery of postgraduate psychiatric training in Nigeria.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Can financial retention incentives slow health worker migration? PPP-adjusted salary differentials in Zimbabwe's donor-dependent health system.Human resources for health · 2026Article
- Article
- Healthcare professionals on the move: understanding the drivers of migration from Türkiye - a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Skilled but displaced: navigating Sudan's surgical brain drain in the era of conflict.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- Career trajectories of master of public health graduates from South African universities.Human resources for health · 2026Article
- Enhancing Healthcare Services for Vulnerable Aging Populations: A Comparative Analysis of Puerto Rico and International Case Studies.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Article
- Clinical training under movement restriction: checkpoint burden, burnout, and intentions to train abroad among medical students in Palestine.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Workplace Challenges and Policy Responses in the Caribbean Nursing Workforce: Insights From Country Chief Nurses.Nursing & health sciences · 2026Article
- Ethical implications of nurse brain drain on undergraduate nursing students.Nursing ethics · 2026Article
- Predicting factors of Iranian nursing students' attitude toward brain drain: a cross-sectional study.BMC medical education · 2026Article
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe migration of healthcare workers (HWs) from low/middle-income countries (LMICs) is a pressing global health issue with implications for population-level health outcomes. We aimed to synthesise the drivers of HWs' out-migration, intention to migrate and non-migration from LMICs.
methodsWe searched Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Global Health and Web of Science, as well as the reference lists of retrieved articles. We included studies (quantitative, qualitative or mixed-methods) on HWs' migration or intention to migrate, published in either English or French between 1 January 1970 and 31 August 2022. The retrieved titles were deduplicated in EndNote before being exported to Rayyan for independent screening by three reviewers.
resultsWe screened 21 593 unique records and included 107 studies. Of the included studies, 82 were single-country studies focusing on 26 countries, while the remaining 25 included data from multiple LMICs. Most of the articles focused on either doctors 64.5% (69 of 107) and/or nurses 54.2% (58 of 107). The UK (44.9% (48 of 107)) and the USA (42% (45 of 107)) were the top destination countries. The LMICs with the highest number of studies were South Africa (15.9% (17 of 107)), India (12.1% (13 of 107)) and the Philippines (6.5% (7 of 107)). The major drivers of migration were macro-level and meso-level factors. Remuneration (83.2%) and security problems (58.9%) were the key macro-level factors driving HWs' migration/intention to migrate. In comparison, career prospects (81.3%), good working environment (63.6%) and job satisfaction (57.9%) were the major meso-level drivers. These key drivers have remained relatively constant over the last five decades and did not differ among HWs who have migrated and those with intention to migrate or across geographical regions.
conclusionGrowing evidence suggests that the key drivers of HWs' migration or intention to migrate are similar across geographical regions in LMICs. Opportunities exist to build collaborations to develop and implement strategies to halt this pressing global health problem.
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