Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 20, Issue 2, 2018, Pages 327-333

Factors Associated with Refugee Acute Healthcare Utilization in Southern Connecticut (Article)

Semere W.* , Agrawal P. , Yun K. , Di Bartolo I. , Annamalai A. , Ross J.S.
  • a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, United States, Section of General Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
  • b Department of Emergency Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
  • c Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
  • d Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
  • e Section of General Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States, Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
  • f Section of General Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States

Abstract

Our objective was to examine refugees’ acute care use early in resettlement. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of acute care use, emergency room and hospital visits, by adult refugees arriving in Southern Connecticut between 2/1/2013 and 2/1/2015. We examined associations between any acute care use and collected demographic as well as health characteristics. Of the 248 refugees in our sample, 57% had a medical evaluation within 30 days of arrival. 102 (41%) had at least one acute care visit within 8 months of arrival. Male sex (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.09–3.30) and prior history of hypertension (OR 2.87, 95% CI 1.06–7.33) were associated with greater likelihood of an acute care visit within 8 months of arrival, while having a medical evaluation within 30 days of arrival was associated with lower likelihood (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.32–0.98). Designing systems to ensure timely evaluations of newly arrived refugees may reduce frequent acute care utilization. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York (outside the USA).

Author Keywords

emergency department Refugee Healthcare utilization Hospital

Index Keywords

refugee mental health human epidemiology Refugees statistics and numerical data Connecticut health status ethnology Humans male female Socioeconomic Factors socioeconomics Retrospective Studies adult age sex factor Sex Factors Age Factors patient attitude Patient Acceptance of Health Care retrospective study
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85017096731&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-017-0574-8&partnerID=40&md5=0f7ae0ea89a4030adb67be5b7a16f148
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-017-0574-8
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 2
Original Language: English