Health profile of pediatric Special Immigrant Visa holders arriving from Iraq and Afghanistan to the United States, 2009–2017: A cross-sectional analysis

Abstract

Background The United States has admitted over 80,000 Special Immigrant Visa holders (SIVH), which include children. Despite the increase in the proportion of SIVH admissions to the US over recent years, little is known about health conditions in SIV children. We report the frequency of selected diseases identified overseas and assess differences in selected conditions between SIV children from Iraq and Afghanistan. Methods and findings We analyzed 15,729 overseas medical exam data in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Electronic Disease Notification system (EDN) for children less than 18 years of age from Iraq (29.1%) and Afghanistan (70.9%) who were admitted to the US from April 2009 through December 2017 in a cross-sectional analysis. Variables included age, sex, native language, measured height and weight, and results of the overseas medical examination. From our analysis, less than 1% of SIV children (Iraqi: 0.1%; Afghan: 0.12%) were reported to have abnormal tuberculosis test findings, less than 1% (Iraqi: 0.3%; Afghan: 0.7%) had hearing abnormalities, and about 4% (Iraqi: 6.0% Afghan: 2.9%) had vision abnormalities, with a greater prevalence of vision abnormalities noted in Iraqis (OR: 1.9, 95% CI 1.6-2.2, p <0.001). Seizure disorders were noted in 46 (0.3%) children, with Iraqis more likely to have a seizure disorder (OR: 7.6, 95% CI 3.8-15.0, p < 0.001). On average, children from Afghanistan had a lower mean height-forage z-score (Iraqi: −0.28; Afghan: −0.68). Only the data quality assessment for height for age for children �5 years fell within WHO recommendations. Limitations included the inability to obtain all SIVH records and self-reported medical history of noncommunicable diseases.

Disparities in Eye Care Utilization Among Refugee and Migrant Populations

“…A study conducted on recent arrivals of pediatric patients to the United States between 2009 and 2017, including refugees with Special Immigrant Visas from Afghanistan and Iraq, reported a higher prevalence of visual abnormalities, particularly among those from Iraq compared to those from Afghanistan. 32 This finding aligns with studies conducted on adult Syrian refugees in Philadelphia, where a higher prevalence of ocular diseases was observed. 7 , 8 It is essential to note that several studies have identified significant barriers experienced by vulnerable populations in the United States that have increased the likelihood of loss to follow-up (LTFU), including age greater than 65 years, having Medicaid insurance, having a lower income, and racial and ethnic demographic background.…”

Mental health and care seeking patterns of Middle Eastern and North African immigrant children in the United States

“…We can compare our ndings to published studies that describe the mental health patterns of MENA children using community-based samples. However, many of the existing studies report that MENA children have worse mental health than other racial/ethnic groups but are limited to speci c geographic regions in the US (e.g., Michigan, Minnesota) [18,19], nativity or ethnic origins (e.g., Iraqi, Syrian, Sudanese, Somalian) [18][19][20]. Our results differed from these studies which identi ed mental health concerns as worse among MENA children compared to other racial/ethnic groups, which may be due to sampling and how the variables were collected and conceptualized.…”

Colorectal Cancer Screening Challenges in the Recent Afghan Refugee Population: A Comprehensive Review Article

“…In addition, they reported that those refugees residing in the US for <15 years are about half as probable to have ever gone through CRC screening [ 21 ]. Since most Afghan refugees are not fluent in English, as their native language is either Pashto and Persian, we can predict that unfamiliarity with the English language presents an incredible difficulty in understanding the significance of CRC testing in this subset of refugees [ 22 ].…”