An overview of the health status of Syrian refugee children in a tertiary hospital in Turkey

Abstract

Objective: Migration is a problem affecting all family members, but particularly children. Child refugees are the highest risk group for the health systems of receiving countries. We investigated the health of 104 Syrian child refugees presenting to a tertiary hospital in Turkey. Settings and Design: A retrospective study was conducted in the pediatric clinic. Materials and Methods: The medical files of Syrian refugee children (0–18 years) presenting to Adiyaman University Hospital, Pediatric Clinic between 01 and 30 November 2015, were investigated. Demographic data, body measurements, and laboratory results obtained from patients' medical records were evaluated. Results: Mean age of patients was 53.5 ± 49.6 (2–198) months; 63 were male and 41 were female. Seventy-two patients (69.2%) were under 5 years of age. Weight in 20 patients (19.2%), height in 33 (31.7%), head circumference in 2 (1.9%), and body mass index in 7 (6.7%) were below the third percentile. All patients with body weight below the third percentile had chronic malnutrition. Anemia was present in 35 (50%) of the 70 patients for whom complete blood count data were available. Conclusion: Health workers involved with Syrian refugee children must consider the two preventable conditions; malnutrition and anemia.

Public health consequences after ten years of the Syrian crisis: a literature review

“…Furthermore, because the rate of tuberculosis has increased in Turkey in 2014, refugees, particularly those living outside of camps, pose a significant health risk. In large cities like Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir, many refugees live in deplorable conditions and are homeless [ 18 , 19 ]. Furthermore, communicable diseases pose a serious public health threat to both refugees and residents of the host country.…”

An overview of the mental and physical health status and post‐migration psychosocial stressors of refugee toddlers and preschoolers

“…In a large cohort study from Germany, refugee reception showed that medical attention was particularly needed for infants and young refugee children for acute complaints such as infection, cough, fever, or other potentially infectious diseases (Happle et al, 2019). For example, in a study which was conducted in Turkey with 0–5 years old refugee children, half of the sample had iron deficiency anemia (Bucak et al, 2017). It was proposed that refugee children under 5 years old must be specially checked for two preventible conditions, anemia and malnutrition.…”

Practicing in exile: Syrian healthcare professionals working in informal outpatient clinics in Istanbul

“…The most commonly seen comorbidities are related to psychological disorders, such as acute psychological crises or post‐traumatic stress disorder (Pfortmueller et al, 2016). Chronic malnutrition was ascertained in 60.7% of Syrian patients admitted to hospitals (Bucak et al, 2017). One of the other most important problems for both the host communities and refugees is the increase in communicable disease cases (Ekmekci, 2017).…”