Noninfectious disease among the Bhutanese refugee population at a United States urban clinic.
Journal Article
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 B(12) 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.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Kumar, GS; Varma, S; Saenger, MS; Burleson, M; Kohrt, BA; Cantey, P
Published Date
- October 2014
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 16 / 5
Start / End Page
- 922 - 925
PubMed ID
- 23456726
Pubmed Central ID
- 23456726
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1557-1920
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1007/s10903-013-9800-1
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States