Disease Burden in Refugees in Mainland Grecian Refugee Camps, 2016-2017: A retrospective cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Background. Despite the importance of baseline health data for evidence-informed decision-making, these data are rarely available for displaced populations. At the height of the European refugee crisis, most of those seeking asylum in Europe were from regions with high prevalences of communicable and non-communicable diseases. To create an epidemiologic profile for refugees in mainland Grecian refugee camps, this study assessed the prevalence of 11 communicable and non-communicable diseases among refugees utilizing Médecins du Monde (MdM) in-camp clinics. Methods. The prevalences of selected diseases among individuals utilizing MdM services were determined from data collected at mainland Grecian refugee camps clinics from April 2016 - July 2017. Overall and age-specific prevalences were reported. Differences in disease burden among refugees from the largest sending countries - Afghanistan and Syria - were compared using prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Patterns in results were compared with disease burden estimates in sending countries and with findings from comparable settings. Results. Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) were the most prevalent outcome. Among RTIs, upper RTIs were most common, with a prevalence of nearly 40%; throughout the study period, over 46% of children under 18 years had at least one upper RTI consultation. Musculoskeletal conditions (3.64%), were the most prevalent non-communicable outcome, followed by hypertension (2.21%) and asthma (1.28%). Afghans were 31.68% more likely than Syrians to have a consultation for at least one condition (PR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.25, 1.39). The prevalence of RTIs was comparable to sending countries, but there was a comparatively lower burden of other conditions among refugees than literature estimates from sending countries. Conclusion. Refugees utilizing MdM clinics in camps had higher burdens of communicable diseases - predominantly RTIs - relative to non-communicable diseases. Non-communicable disease burdens were comparatively lower than reported prevalences from in-country populations. These findings can be attributed to a range of considerations including differences in demographic profiles between sending countries and refugee populations and missed opportunities for utilizing clinical care. Based on these data, displaced populations have considerable health needs. Further investment is needed to capture the health profiles of displaced populations to support evidence-informed decision-making processes in humanitarian emergency responses.