Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 16, Issue 5, 2014, Pages 922-925

Noninfectious Disease Among the Bhutanese Refugee Population at a United States Urban Clinic (Article)

Kumar G.S. , Varma S. , Saenger M.S.* , Burleson M. , Kohrt B.A. , Cantey P.
  • a Department of Internal Medicine, Emory University, 49 Jesse Hill Junior Drive, Suite 403, Atlanta, GA 30303, United States
  • b Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
  • c Department of Internal Medicine, Emory University, 49 Jesse Hill Junior Drive, Suite 403, Atlanta, GA 30303, United States
  • d Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
  • e Department of Psychiatry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
  • f Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, Center for Global Health, CDC, Atlanta, GA, United States

Abstract

A large number of Bhutanese are currently being resettled to the United States. A high prevalence of noninfectious diseases has been noted in some refugee groups, but data on the Bhutanese refugee population are lacking. A retrospective, chart review study was conducted to determine proportion of noninfectious disease among ethnically Nepali Bhutanese refugees (n = 66) seen at the Grady Refugee Clinic (GRC). GRC disease proportions included the following: 52 % of the patients were overweight/obese (n = 34), 23 % were hypertensive (n = 15), 12 % had vitamin B12 deficiency (n = 8), 15 % had depression (n = 10), and 14 % had diabetes (n = 9). Nine (90 %) patients with depression had chronic disease compared to 30 (54 %) of the patients without depression. The study found a substantial burden of chronic disease, micronutrient deficiency, and depression in the GRC. Further research is needed to accurately describe the disease burden in refugee populations and to evaluate pre-resettlement disease prevention strategies to provide a framework for future public health interventions. © 2013, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

Bhutanese Chronic disease Refugee Noninfectious disease

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84874390486&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-013-9800-1&partnerID=40&md5=fd8095ca31a825ad75ef6e14597563b5
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-013-9800-1
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 12
Original Language: English