Abstract
BackgroundThe coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and control measures adopted have had a disproportionate impact on workers, with migrants being a group specifically affected but poorly studied. This scoping review aims to describe the evidence published on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the physical and mental health of migrant workers.MethodsPapers written in English covering physical and mental health among international migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, retrieved from six electronic databases searched on July 31, 2021, were included. A total of 1,096 references were extracted, of which 26 studies were finally included.ResultsMost of the migrant populations studied were born in Asia (16 of 26) and Latin America (8 of 26) and were essential workers (15 of 26). Few studies described the length of stay in the host country (9 of 26), the legal status of the migrant population (6 of 26), or established comparison groups (7 of 26). Ten studies described COVID-19 outbreaks with high infection rates. Fourteen studies evaluated mental health (anxiety, depression, worries, fears, stress, and post-traumatic stress disorder). Three of the 26 studies presented collateral positive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic because of improved hygiene.ConclusionThere is a limited number of original publications related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the physical and mental health of migrant workers around the world. These publications mainly focus on migrants born in Asia and Latin America. The physical, long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has, so far, not been evaluated. The positive collateral effects of improving healthcare conditions for migrant workers should also be further investigated.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures adopted to prevent and control its spread have had an enormous impact on the global labor force, changing working and employment conditions, developing new ways of working from home and transforming safe working places into potential infection zones
It is known that type of work, working conditions, and social security coverage are among the determinants of health [2, 3]
To shed light on this vulnerable group of migrants in this review, we describe the evidence published on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the physical and mental health of labor migrants
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures adopted to prevent and control its spread have had an enormous impact on the global labor force, changing working and employment conditions, developing new ways of working from home and transforming safe working places into potential infection zones. The SARS-CoV-2 virus enhances the relevance of epidemiological factors in evaluating the impact of disease among workers. In this context, epidemiological factors include occupational exposure to risk of infection, the existence and quality of occupational health services, the efficacy of diagnosing, tracing and followingup of cases and contacts at work, and the possibility of having to comply with isolation and quarantine measures [4,5,6]. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and control measures adopted have had a disproportionate impact on workers, with migrants being a group affected but poorly studied. This scoping review aims to describe the evidence published on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the physical and mental health of migrant workers
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