Adult Asylum Seekers from the Middle East Including Syria in Central Europe: What Are Their Health Care Problems?

Abstract

BackgroundForced displacement related to persecution and violent conflict has reached a new peak in recent years. The primary aim of this study is to provide an initial overview of the acute and chronic health care problems of asylum seekers from the Middle East, with special emphasis on asylum seekers from Syria.MethodsOur retrospective data analysis comprised adult patients presenting to our emergency department between 01.11.2011 and 30.06.2014 with the official resident status of an “asylum seeker” or “refugee” from the Middle East.ResultsIn total, 880 patients were included in the study. Of these, 625 (71.0%) were male and 255 (29.0%) female. The median age was 34 (range 16–84). 222 (25.2%) of our patients were from Syria. The most common reason for presentation was surgical (381, 43.3%), followed by medical (321, 36.5%) and psychiatric (137, 15.6%). In patients with surgical presentations, trauma-related problems were most common (n = 196, 50.6%). Within the group of patients with medical presentation, acute infectious diseases were most common (n = 141, 43.9%), followed by neurological problems (n = 70, 21.8%) and gastrointestinal problems (n = 47, 14.6%). There were no differences between Syrian and non-Syrian refugees concerning surgical or medical admissions. The most common chronic disorder of unclear significance was chronic gastrointestinal problems (n = 132, 15%), followed by chronic musculoskeletal problems (n = 108, 12.3%) and chronic headaches (n = 78, 8.9%). Patients from Syria were significantly younger and more often suffered from a post-traumatic stress disorder than patients of other nationalities (p<0.0001, and p = 0.05, respectively).ConclusionOverall a remarkable number of our very young group of patients suffered from psychiatric disorders and unspecified somatic symptoms. Asylum seekers should be carefully evaluated when presenting to a medical facility and physicians should be aware of the high incidence of unspecified somatic symptoms in this patient population.In general, there is no major difference between asylum seekers from Syria when compared to other nationalities of asylum seekers from the Middle East.

A cross-sectional investigation of the health needs of asylum seekers in a refugee clinic in Germany

“…The preponderance of respiratory infections is consistent with recent studies in Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland [8, 15, 16]. More frequent respiratory diagnoses among new arrivals are likely attributable to conditions in Dresden’s reception centers, which often had open sleeping arrangements and minimal temperature control.…”

Migrants and Refugees in Europe: Challenges, Experiences and Contributions

“…Taken together, refugees treated at our ICU presented with infections similar to the host population (pneumonia and urinary tract infections), which is in line with the current literature [14,36].…”

“…The most common health problems may be related to problems in their home countries and the journey, representing a variety of diseases including accidental injuries, gynecological and obstetric complications, dermatological diseases, cardiovascular events, gastrointestinal and respiratory problems, and mental illness [10,11]. Available evidence underlines that infectious diseases are not a health priority at first arrival [12][13][14]. A very recent work from Germany assessed the health status of 214 asylum seekers, and the main health problem was psychological illness while the prevalence of infectious and chronic diseases was low [15].…”

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“…In comparison, such people may be more likely to present at hospital for medically-based treatment, for example, following presentation of physically-based symptoms. Indeed, Pfortmueller et al (2016) found that 43.4%…”

“…As such, assessment of biomarkers for PTSD by medical staff may not be an unexpected practice and may afford biomedical assessment of correlates of potential trauma-related psychological disturbance present in an individual (Pfortmueller et al, 2016).…”