The electronic Personal Health(ePHR) Record is a health information system that registers health data on newly arriving migrants and was implemented in eight European countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia). This is a cross-sectional study aimed to describe the health problems and health status of all migrants attended at health clinics as part of the health assessment programme established in the reception centres(2016-2019).
Data were collected on demographics, clinical and laboratory findings and diagnostics performed, including medical records. We classified all diseases using pre-specified algorithms according to information on prespecified variables from the ePHR questionnaire, ICD-10 codes, positive laboratory findings or review of medical records. Crude proportions were calculated and odds ratios estimated using logistic regression modelling.
The ePHR dataset contained a total of 19 564 clinical episodes in 14 436 individuals, recorded between January 2016 to October 2019. Most individuals (75%) were refugees or asylum seekers (22%) from 92 different nationalities. There were 2531/19564(12,9%) infectious diseases episodes reported during the study period, being 1283/2531(50.7%) of them pharyngo-tonsillitis, 529(20.9%) scabies, 158(6.2%) viral hepatitis, 156(6.1%) lower respiratory infections. There were 2462(17.1%) individuals with non-communicable diseases reported; including 821(5.7%) cardiovascular diseases, 1183(8.2%) neurological condition, 644(4.5%) Diabetes mellitus and 212(1.5%) kidney disease cases. Having Diabetes Mellitus (adjusted OR 3.3,[95%CI 2.7-4.1],p < 0.001), and neurological disorders (aOR 1.8,[95%CI 1.4-2.2], p < 0.001) were associated with cardiovascular disorders in the multivariable logistic regression model. Mental health problems were reported in 641/14436(4.4%) individuals and were associated with increasing age. Furthermore, 610 episodes of acute injuries were reported among 585/14436(4.1%) people, 517(88.4%) of them in men, (p < 0.001).
The ePHR is a valuable tool to efficiently collect health-related data to better address migrant health issues. We described a mostly healthy population with many acute infectious disease episodes particularly in children, but also with significant number of chronic conditions and less frequent injuries or mental health problems.

© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of International Society of Travel Medicine.

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