Results of a health survey covering demographics, health risk/prevention factors, and barriers to health care among 263 refugees from Sudan, now living in Nebraska, are presented. Data are compared to Nebraska's general and minority populations. Sudanese refugees are generally young, highly mobile, uneducated, and live in poverty. Refugees are proportionally different from other Nebraskans, in terms of risk factors and rates of common U.S. conditions, but are unable to use preventive systems for maintaining high health status. Nearly 40% do not have health or dental insurance, 20% have never visited a dental or eye care professional, and 11% have never been to a doctor. Federal programs should standardize resettlement site screening so that mobile populations can begin the resettlement process healthy and prevent the spread of infectious disease. Good health at the outset will allow more time and resources for education, language, and employment acquisition, all of critical importance to the Sudanese refugee community. © 2006 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.

Nuer Dinka Refugee health Refugees Sudanese

statistical analysis refugee medically uninsured demography poverty Nebraska human Refugees middle aged Sudan ethnic group priority journal health status Marital Status geographic distribution Health Surveys statistical significance United States income Humans Adolescent male female risk factor population distribution Article adult health care system health hazard health care delivery health survey