PA R T : M AT E R I A L S A N D M E T H O D S

STUDY DESIGN

• Across-sectional study was conducted between July and September 2008.

• A self-administered questionnaire was used for the data collection

Setting
• Eight factories in Huangpu district, Guangzhou city, China were selected randomly from the
district administration’s exhaustive list of 32 eligible factories by using cluster sampling.
 PARTICIPANTS
Factories
• Factories were eligible if they: (1) had between 200 and 400 female migrant workers; (2) were
non-state-run factories.
• No exclusion criteria were applied.
Subjects
• In all participating factories, the criteria of eligible participants were :
1. being a rural-to-urban female migrant,
2. aged between 18 and 29 years old,
3. having worked at the worksite for more than one month,
4. being able to give oral informed consent.
Exclusion Criteria were: inability to read or answer the study questionnaires (e.g.,dementia,
difficulties with the language)
 OUTCOMES AND VARIABLES

• The primary outcome was the SRH knowledge score.

• The Variables related to the current SRH status included self-reported Symptoms of RTI; medical
assistance seeking behavior; sexual experience and contraceptive use; reproductive information
approach and reproductive service utilization.
 DATA SOURCES AND MEASUREMENTS

• The questionnaire was pre-tested and administered in other cities among female migrant workers
• It contained five components:
a. general demographic characteristics;
b. self-reported symptoms of RTI and medical assistance seeking behavior;
c. Sexual experience and contraceptive use;
d. reproductive information approach and reproductive service utilization;
e. knowledge level of SRH.
• The internal consistency of the tool (reliability) was estimated on the basis of Cronbach’s Alpha
(=0.78). Generally, alpha coefficients greater than 0.70 on a new questionnaire are considered to
be adequate.
• During lunch and Dinner time, the participants privately completed a self-administered
questionnaire following oral informed consent.
• For participants with limited literacy (about 2.1%), one female interviewer who provided
assistance as needed was allowed to stay with the participant: the interviewer read each question
and response options from the questionnaire while the participant marked the response on her
own questionnaire.
• Supervisors and managers of factories were not involved in the data collection and consent
process.
• All interviewers received training in human subjects’ research, questionnaire administration,
human protection, and safeguarding confidentiality.
 ETHICS
• The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the School of Public health, Sun Yat-sen
University.
Bias
• A potential bias involved in our study is selection bias, which was diminished by the use of the
random cluster sampling methodology.
• A concern with surveying respondents on sexual behavior is that of honest self-disclosure of a
stigmatized behavior.
• To reduce self-disclosure bias in the study, we used a self administrated survey. For participants
with limited literacy, we used only female interviewers. We also instituted procedures, which a
pilot study had shown would make respondents feel more comfortable with questions of a
sensitive nature (e.g., privacy and study credibility assurances; enhanced introductions). Specifically,
in the analysis multivariable analysis is done in order to diminish confounding bias.
 STATISTICAL METHODS
• The Quantitative data were entered by two data entry clerks separately and cross checked
again to assure their accuracy. Demographic characteristics of respondents were summarized
with counts (percentages) for categorical variables, and mean (SD), or median for continuous
variables. In testing the statistical significance between groups, t-test was used for normally
distributed continuous variables as well as chi-squared test for categorical variables.
• One-way analysis contained t-test, nonparametric test and chi square test. Only variables that
were significant at P 0.10 were used in a multivariate logistic regression model for selecting
significant variables.
• Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the correlating factors of knowledge.
Outcome variables included the prevalence of low SRH knowledge score and odds ratios
(ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). P 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical
significance. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 13.0