Health status and disease burden of unaccompanied asylum‐seeking adolescents in Bielefeld, Germany: cross‐sectional pilot study

Abstract

Abstractobjective This exploratory pilot study aimed to investigate the physical and mental disease burden of unaccompanied asylum-seeking adolescents arriving in Bielefeld, a medium-size city in Germany.methods A cross-sectional survey with purposive sampling of 102 unaccompanied asylum-seeking adolescents aged 12-18 years was performed. Information on general health status, selected infectious and non-communicable diseases, iron deficiency anaemia and mental illness was collected during routine check-up medical examinations upon arrival in Bielefeld, Germany. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics.

A refugee camp in the centre of Europe: clinical characteristics of asylum seekers arriving in Brussels

“…11 15 16 20 25 30 A possible explanation is that most people from the Middle East and Africa arrived in autumn, in a cold and rainy environment, and were confronted with the typical respiratory viruses of Western Europe they were never exposed to before 1429 Owing to huddling in refugee camps, and many patients coughing, these viruses spread rapidly 14.…”

“…16 31 It must be considered that most patients were Iraqi who already fled their country after the 2002 invasion to become refugees in Syria, where access to dental or any healthcare was limited 1132 Their long, exhausting travel with limited healthcare facilities might have contributed to transform caries into dental abscesses.…”

A first assessment of the needs of young refugees arriving in Europe: what mental health professionals need to know

“…In the aforementioned German survey [14], mental illness was observed in 13.7 %. Overall, females were more frequently affected.…”

“…For instance, in Serbia common acute health problems have included middle ear infections, angina, bronchitis, sinusitis, varicella, pneumonia, laryngitis, dermatological conditions, dehydration, blisters and diarrhea; infrequently, previously poorly treated children with congenital malformations and other serious somatic/neurological disorders pose significant challenges to the national healthcare system [18]. Similarly, a German cross-sectional survey based on 102 unaccompanied asylum-seeking adolescents aged 12-18 years revealed a complex disease burden of physical disorders with a high prevalence of infections (58.8 %; 20 % with parasites), iron deficiency anemia (17.6 %), and a very low prevalence of non-communicable diseases (<2.0 %; [14]). The high prevalence of physical and in particular communicable disorders is echoed in a review of the health status of adolescent refugees who are resettling in high-income countries [10].…”

Refugees in Europe: national overviews from key countries with a special focus on child and adolescent mental health

“…Mandatory full medical exams were performed subsequently as part of the asylum application to check for infectious diseases and to administer immunizations [13]. A cross-sectional survey based on 102 unaccompanied asylum-seeking adolescents aged 12-18 years in the city of Bielefeld revealed a complex disease burden with a high prevalence of infections (58.8; 20% infected with parasites), mental illness (13.7%) and iron deficiency anemia (17.6%) and a low prevalence of non-communicable diseases (< 2.0%) [14]; West Asians had the highest prevalence of mental disorders (20.0%).…”