Kajal Hirani 1,2 , Donald N Payne 1,2 , Raewyn Mutch 1,2,3,4 , Sarah Cherian 2,4 Show Affiliations »
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the medical needs and socioeconomic determinants of health among adolescent refugees resettling in Western Australia. DESIGN: Comprehensive medical and socioeconomic health data of resettling adolescent refugees aged 12 years and above attending a Refugee Health Service over a 1-year period were analysed. RESULTS: Medical records of 122 adolescents, median (range) age of 14 (12-17) years, were reviewed. Socioeconomic vulnerabilities included dependence on government financial support (50%), housing issues (27%) and child protection service involvement (11%). Medical concerns included non-communicable disorders (85%), infectious diseases (81%), nutrition/growth (71%) and physical symptoms of non-organic origin (43%). One quarter (27%) of female adolescents had sexual/reproductive health issues. A median (range) of 5 (2-12) health concerns were identified for each adolescent with 49% requiring referral to subspecialty services. CONCLUSION: Resettling adolescent refugees are socioeconomically vulnerable with a range of medical issues that frequently require additional subspecialty health referrals. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the medical needs and socioeconomic determinants of health among adolescent refugees resettling in Western Australia. DESIGN: Comprehensive medical and socioeconomic health data of resettling adolescent refugees aged 12 years and above attending a Refugee Health Service over a 1-year period were analysed. RESULTS: Medical records of 122 adolescents, median (range) age of 14 (12-17) years, were reviewed. Socioeconomic vulnerabilities included dependence on government financial support (50%), housing issues (27%) and child protection service involvement (11%). Medical concerns included non-communicable disorders (85%), infectious diseases (81%), nutrition/growth (71%) and physical symptoms of non-organic origin (43%). One quarter (27%) of female adolescents had sexual/reproductive health issues. A median (range) of 5 (2-12) health concerns were identified for each adolescent with 49% requiring referral to subspecialty services. CONCLUSION: Resettling adolescent refugees are socioeconomically vulnerable with a range of medical issues that frequently require additional subspecialty health referrals. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Entities: Disease
Species
Keywords:
adolescent health; asylum seeker; migration; refugee health
Mesh： See more »
Year: 2018
PMID： 29970582 DOI： 10.1136/archdischild-2018-315105
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Arch Dis Child ISSN： 0003-9888 Impact factor: 3.791