Psychiatric disorders in ASEAN-migrants in Malaysia--a university hospital experience

Malaysia's workforce presently includes 13% foreigners most coming from the neighboring ASEAN-countries. No data of the prevalence of psychiatric disorders amongst this population is currently available.

All patients from ASEAN-countries admitted to the University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur between January 1994 and June 1996 were included in a prospective study.

During the study period 39 patients were admitted. Five patients were male (12.8%) and 34 female (87.2%). Most came from Indonesia (51.3%) and the Philippines (41.0%), while one each was from Brunei, Singapore and Thailand. Thirty (76.9%) were working in Malaysia as unskilled workers, 23 (59.0%) as maids. Six of the patients (15.4%) were married to Malaysians and only three (7.2%) held white-collar jobs. Three patients (7.2%) received the diagnosis schizophrenia and ten (25.6%) acute and transient psychotic disorder. Two (5.1%) were diagnosed as bipolar affective disorder--manic and two (5.1%) as depression without psychotic features. Five patients (12.8%) were depressed and had as well presence of psychotic features. Adjustment disorders mostly with depressed mood was diagnosed in fourteen (35.9%), three (7.2%) received another diagnosis.

The study showed high rates of acute and transient psychosis as well as adjustment disorders indicating high stress level in this population. In particular maids from Indonesia and the Philippines with their dependent and isolated situation seem vulnerable to develop psychiatric disorders. However, overall the rates of psychiatric admissions (only 1.3%) in the ASEAN-nationals is relatively low and tends to support the view that migrants do not suffer from an excess of mental disorders.