Health issues in newly arrived African refugees attending general practice clinics in Melbourne
| Autor: | Karen S Linton, Rowena Ryan, Joanne Gardiner, Mahomed Patel, Kate Walker, Beverley-Ann Biggs, John Scopel, Albert C D Tiong |
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| Rok vydání: | 2006 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male Pediatrics medicine.medical_specialty Adolescent Victoria Gastrointestinal Diseases Health Status Refugee Private Practice Social issues medicine Humans Mass Screening Schistosomiasis Tuberculosis Child Mass screening Retrospective Studies Refugees Anemia Iron-Deficiency business.industry Medical record Public health Vaccination Feces analysis Infant Community Health Centers General Medicine Middle Aged Vitamin D Deficiency Private practice Child Preschool Family medicine Africa Community health Female Family Practice business |
| Zdroj: | Medical Journal of Australia. 185:602-606 |
| ISSN: | 1326-5377 0025-729X |
| DOI: | 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00724.x |
| Popis: | Objective: To identify the most common health issues diagnosed by general practitioners in newly arrived African refugees. Design: Descriptive study based on a purposive sample of six GPs to collate data from medical records of patients from African countries who had attended their clinics for the first time between 1 January and 30 June 2005. Setting: Two community health centres and two private general practices in metropolitan Melbourne. Participants: African refugee patients who arrived in Australia after 1 June 2004 and were seen by the six participating GPs between 1 January and 30 June 2005. Main outcome measures: Demographic characteristics, laboratory test results and final diagnoses. Results: Data were collected from 258 patient files. Most patients were from Sudan (57%) or Liberia (17%). Half were aged under 15 years. The most common health problems identified were inadequate vaccinations, nutritional deficiencies (vitamin D and iron), infectious diseases (gastrointestinal infections, schistosomiasis, and latent tuberculosis) and dental disease. Musculoskeletal, psychological and social problems were common in adults. 37% of patients were tested for latent tuberculosis, and 25% of these tested positive. Conclusions: African refugees require comprehensive health assessments for undiagnosed and untreated health problems. While most of the common diseases identified are non-communicable, if left untreated they will affect the long-term health |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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