Health needs of refugee children identified on arrival in reception countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Background The worldwide number of refugees has considerably increased due to ongoing wars, national instability, political persecution and food insecurity. In Europe, about one-third of all refugees are children, an increasing number of which are travelling alone. There are often no systematic medi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2019-09-01
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| Series: | BMJ Paediatrics Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/3/1/e000516.full |
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| author | Mai Chinapaw Albertine Baauw Joana Kist-van Holthe Bridget Slattery Martijn Heymans Hans van Goudoever |
| author_facet | Mai Chinapaw Albertine Baauw Joana Kist-van Holthe Bridget Slattery Martijn Heymans Hans van Goudoever |
| author_sort | Mai Chinapaw |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background The worldwide number of refugees has considerably increased due to ongoing wars, national instability, political persecution and food insecurity. In Europe, about one-third of all refugees are children, an increasing number of which are travelling alone. There are often no systematic medical health assessments for these refugee children on entry in reception countries despite the fact that they are recognised as an at-risk population due to increased burden of physical and mental health conditions. We aimed to perform a systematic review of the literature to describe the health status of refugee children on entering reception countries.Methods A systematic search of published literature was conducted using the terms refugee, immigrant or migrant, medical or health, and screening.Results Of the 3487 potentially relevant papers, 53 population-based studies were included in this review. This systematic review showed that refugee children exhibit high estimated prevalence rates for anaemia (14%), haemoglobinopathies (4%), chronic hepatitis B (3%), latent tuberculosis infection (11%) and vitamin D deficiency (45%) on entry in reception countries. Approximately one-third of refugee children had intestinal infection. Nutritional problems ranged from wasting and stunting to obesity.Conclusions Refugee children entering reception countries should receive comprehensive health assessments based on the outcomes of this systematic review, national budgets, cost-effectiveness and personal factors of the refugees. The health assessment should be tailored to individual child health needs depending on preflight, flight and postarrival conditions.A paradigm shift that places focus on child health and development will help this vulnerable group of children integrate into their new environments.PROSPEROregistrationnumber122561. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-419d02044e434c4ea7ac6ea18615de7c |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2399-9772 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-09-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Paediatrics Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-419d02044e434c4ea7ac6ea18615de7c2025-08-20T02:49:08ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Paediatrics Open2399-97722019-09-013110.1136/bmjpo-2019-000516Health needs of refugee children identified on arrival in reception countries: a systematic review and meta-analysisMai Chinapaw0Albertine Baauw1Joana Kist-van Holthe2Bridget Slattery3Martijn Heymans4Hans van Goudoever5Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam UMC Location VUmc, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, The NetherlandsEmma Children`s Hospital, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsPublic and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsEmma Children`s Hospital, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsPaediatrics, Emma Kinderziekenhuis AMC, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsBackground The worldwide number of refugees has considerably increased due to ongoing wars, national instability, political persecution and food insecurity. In Europe, about one-third of all refugees are children, an increasing number of which are travelling alone. There are often no systematic medical health assessments for these refugee children on entry in reception countries despite the fact that they are recognised as an at-risk population due to increased burden of physical and mental health conditions. We aimed to perform a systematic review of the literature to describe the health status of refugee children on entering reception countries.Methods A systematic search of published literature was conducted using the terms refugee, immigrant or migrant, medical or health, and screening.Results Of the 3487 potentially relevant papers, 53 population-based studies were included in this review. This systematic review showed that refugee children exhibit high estimated prevalence rates for anaemia (14%), haemoglobinopathies (4%), chronic hepatitis B (3%), latent tuberculosis infection (11%) and vitamin D deficiency (45%) on entry in reception countries. Approximately one-third of refugee children had intestinal infection. Nutritional problems ranged from wasting and stunting to obesity.Conclusions Refugee children entering reception countries should receive comprehensive health assessments based on the outcomes of this systematic review, national budgets, cost-effectiveness and personal factors of the refugees. The health assessment should be tailored to individual child health needs depending on preflight, flight and postarrival conditions.A paradigm shift that places focus on child health and development will help this vulnerable group of children integrate into their new environments.PROSPEROregistrationnumber122561.https://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/3/1/e000516.full |
| spellingShingle | Mai Chinapaw Albertine Baauw Joana Kist-van Holthe Bridget Slattery Martijn Heymans Hans van Goudoever Health needs of refugee children identified on arrival in reception countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis BMJ Paediatrics Open |
| title | Health needs of refugee children identified on arrival in reception countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_full | Health needs of refugee children identified on arrival in reception countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_fullStr | Health needs of refugee children identified on arrival in reception countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Health needs of refugee children identified on arrival in reception countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_short | Health needs of refugee children identified on arrival in reception countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_sort | health needs of refugee children identified on arrival in reception countries a systematic review and meta analysis |
| url | https://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/3/1/e000516.full |
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