Health care provided to recent asylum-seeking and non-asylum-seeking pediatric patients at a Swiss tertiary hospital
Abstract BackgroundAsylum-seeking children represent an increasing and vulnerable group of patients whose health needs are largely unmet. Data on the health care provision to asylum-seeking children in European contexts is scarce. In this study we compare the health care provided to recent asylum-seeking and non-asylum-seeking children at a Swiss tertiary hospital.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional retrospective study in a pediatric tertiary care hospital in Switzerland. All patients and visits from January 2016 to December 2017were identified, using administrative and medical electronic health records. The asylum-seeking status was systematically assessed at the reception desks and the patients allocated accordingly in the two study groups.ResultsA total of 202’316 visits by 55’789 patients were included, of which asylum-seeking patients accounted for 1674 (1%) visits by 439 (1%). The emergency department had the highest number of visits in both groups with a lower proportion in asylum-seeking compared to non-asylum-seeking children: 19% (317/1674) and 32% (64’315/200’642) respectively. Hospital admissions were more common in asylum-seeking patients 11% (184/1674) and 7% (14’692/200’642). Frequent visits accounted for 48% (807/1674) of total visits in asylum-seeking and 25% (49’886/200’642) of total visits in non-asylum-seeking patients.ConclusionsHospital visits by asylum-seeking children represented a small proportion of all visits. The emergency department had the highest number of visits in all patients but was less frequently used by asylum-seeking children.Higher admission rates and a larger proportion of visits from frequently visiting patients suggest that asylum-seeking patients present with more complex diseases. Further studies are needed, focusing on asylum-seeking children with medical complexity.