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- Title
Health of Syrian unaccompanied asylum seeking adolescents (UASA) at first medical examination in Germany in comparison to UASA from other world regions.
- Authors
Laukamp, Annika; Prüfer-Krämer, Luise; Fischer, Florian; Krämer, Alexander
- Abstract
Background: The war in Syria has led to the biggest refugee crisis of our time. Unaccompanied asylum seeking adolescents (UASA) are a particularly vulnerable subgroup of refugees. This study aims to describe the weight status, health behaviour and disease spectrum of Syrian UASA in comparison to UASA from other world regions. Methods: The study was conducted as a prospective cross-sectional analysis of health metrics and diagnoses from 346 UASA (78% male; mean age 16 years) between 2011 and 2017. The data was collected in an outpatient clinic for internal and tropical medicine during a systematic medical examination after arrival. Descriptive and bivariate analyses stratified by gender and region/country of origin were performed. Results: The general health status of the UASA in most cases was good. Compared to other UASA Syrian UASA had the highest underweight prevalence (16.7%) (p =.013) and the second highest smoking prevalence (37.9%) (p <.001). Diseases at first medical examination mostly were infections and diseases of the digestive system, with significant differences between the regions/countries of origin (p <.001; p <.001, respectively). Syrian UASA had a lower prevalence of infections (28%) and a similar prevalence of mental and behavioural problems (10.3%) than the average of all regions/countries of origin (48.6%; 11%, respectively). Conclusion: Tailored screening for diseases as well as for health behaviour immediately after arrival in Germany is needed to reduce the individual burden of disease and to offer targeted preventive measures.
- Subjects
GERMANY; BODY weight; DIGESTIVE system diseases; HEALTH behavior; HEALTH status indicators; OUTPATIENT services in hospitals; INTERNAL medicine; LEANNESS; LONGITUDINAL method; PSYCHOLOGY of refugees; SMOKING; STATISTICS; TEENAGERS' conduct of life; DISEASE prevalence; CROSS-sectional method; DESCRIPTIVE statistics
- Publication
BMC International Health & Human Rights, 2019, Vol 19, Issue 1, pN.PAG
- ISSN
1472-698X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1186/s12914-019-0192-8