Health Status Assessment of a Population of Asylum Seekers in Northern Italy
Abstract BackgroundSince 2011 Italy has faced an extraordinary increase in migrants arrivals, mainly from the Mediterranean route, one of the world’s most dangerous journeys. The purpose of the present article is to provide a comprehensive picture of the migrants' health status in the centre "T.Fenoglio", Settimo Torinese (Turin, Italy).MethodsA retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted using data collected from June 2016 to May 2018 on adult migrants (>18 years) from Africa, East and Middle East. Data was collected through the migrants' medical records. Descriptive statistics were performed on socio-demographic variables. The diagnosed diseases were anonymously registered and classified according to the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2).Conditional Inference Trees were used to perform a descriptive analysis of the sample and to detect the covariates with the strongest association with the outcome variables Disease on Arrival and ICPC-2 for diseases on arrival.ResultsAnalyzed observations were 9857. 81.8% were men, median age was 23 (Interquartile range= 20.0-27.4). 70.3% of the sample came from Sub-Saharan Africa. 2365 individuals (24%) arrived at the center with at least one disease. On arrival, skin (27.71%), respiratory (14.46%), digestive (14.73%) and generic diseases (20.88%) were the most frequent. During the stay respiratory diseases were the most common (25.70%). The highest probability of arriving with a disease occurred in 2018 and in the period September-November 2016, in particular for people from the Horn of Africa. During this period and also in the first half of 2017, skin diseases were the most reported. In quarters with lower prevalence of diseases on arrival the most common disease code was generic for both men and women.ConclusionsHorn of Africa was the most troubled area with severe conditions frequently reported regarding skin diseases, in particular scabies. 2018 was the most critical year, especially for migrants from Horn of Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. A better understanding of the health status of asylum seekers is an important factor to determine a more efficient reception and integration process and the better allocation of economic resources in the context of migrants' health care.