The Self-rated Health Status of Foreign People in Japan: Does Their Employment Status Matter?

Abstract

International immigration into Japan is increasing. It would make sense that investigating the health status of immigrants would be associated with improvements in their health and would be beneficial in building a complete social security system in which minorities can live safely and securely. The objective of this study is to describe the health status of immigrants in Japan and to explore the association between self-rated health status and employment status. As a result, half of those surveyed had some health problem, particularly a lot of mental stress. We did not find a significant relationship between self-rated health status and employment status, but it seems that people who stay in Japan 5 years or more tend to have poor self-rated health status. The factors associated with poor self-rated mental health status were being a non-employee, and having visited a hospital 1 time or more during the past 12 months. A system of mental stress care would be the most necessary health care for international students in Japan.