Challenges in identifying refugees in national health data sets

W. Semere, K. Yun, C. Ahalt, B. Williams and E.A. Wang

American Journal of Public Health, 2016, vol. 106, issue 7, 1231-1232

Abstract: Objectives. To evaluate publicly available data sets to determine their utility for studying refugee health. Methods. We searched for keywords describing refugees in data sets within the Society of General Internal Medicine Dataset Compendium and the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research database. We included in our analysis US-based data sets with publicly available documentation and a self-defined, health-related focus that allowed for an examination of patientlevel factors. Results. Of the 68 data sets that met the study criteria, 37 (54%) registered keyword matches related to refugees, but only 2 uniquely identified refugees. Conclusions. Few health data sets identify refugee status among participants, presenting barriers to understanding refugees' health and health care needsPublic Health Implications. Information about refugee status in national health surveys should include expanded demographic questions and focus on mental health and chronic disease.

Keywords: chronic disease; epidemiology; ethnology; health survey; human; mental health; procedures; refugee; socioeconomics; standards; statistics and numerical data; United States, Chronic Disease; Health Surveys; Humans; Mental Health; Refugees; Socioeconomic Factors; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303201

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2016.303201_2

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303201

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().