School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, USA.
School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, USA.
Fam Pract. 2021 Jul 28;38(4):403-409. doi: 10.1093/fampra/cmaa147.
An estimated 140 000 refugees from Burma have resettled to the USA since 2009, comprising 21% of total resettlement in the USA over the last decade. Our objective was to describe patterns of longitudinal health outcomes in a cohort of Karen refugees resettled in the USA for 5 years, and to translate these findings to a primary healthcare context.
The study was a retrospective cohort study focused on the analysis of the first 5 years of electronic health records of a sample of 143 Karen refugees who were initially resettled between May 2011 and May 2013.
Through descriptive, inferential and survival statistics, we described patterns of retention in primary care, biometric trends, condition prevalence and survival probabilities. Highest prevalence health conditions documented at any point in the 5-year period included diagnoses or symptoms associated with pain (52%); gastrointestinal disturbance (41%); metabolic disorder (41%); infectious process (34%); mental health condition (31%) and central nervous system disorder (24%).
This study is the first retrospective longitudinal analysis of patterns of health in Karen refugees originating from Burma and resettled to the USA. Findings identified in the 5-year, the post-resettlement period provided important clinical insights into the health trajectories of war-affected populations. Burden of illness was high although results did not demonstrate the extent of trauma-associated physical health conditions reported in the literature. Indicators such as significant increases in body mass index (BMI), the overall prevalence of dyslipidaemia and others suggested that the cohort may be exhibiting an early trajectory towards the development of these conditions. Authors summarize potential protective factors experienced by the cohort that promoted aspects of health frequently challenged in forced migration.
自 2009 年以来，约有 14 万缅甸难民移民美国，占过去十年美国总安置人数的 21%。我们的目的是描述一个在美定居了 5 年的克伦族难民队列的纵向健康结果模式，并将这些发现转化为初级保健背景。
这项研究是一项回顾性队列研究，重点分析了 2011 年 5 月至 2013 年 5 月期间最初移民美国的 143 名克伦族难民的前 5 年电子健康记录样本。
通过描述性、推论性和生存统计，我们描述了初级保健保留、生物统计学趋势、疾病流行和生存概率的模式。在 5 年期间的任何时间点记录的最高患病率健康状况包括与疼痛（52%）、胃肠道紊乱（41%）、代谢紊乱（41%）、传染病（34%）、心理健康状况（31%）和中枢神经系统紊乱（24%）相关的诊断或症状。
这是第一项对来自缅甸并移民美国的克伦族难民健康模式的回顾性纵向分析。在安置后的 5 年期间发现的结果为受战争影响人群的健康轨迹提供了重要的临床见解。疾病负担很高，尽管结果并未显示出与创伤相关的身体健康状况的程度与文献报道一致。身体质量指数（BMI）显著增加、血脂异常总体流行率等指标表明，该队列可能正在表现出向这些疾病发展的早期轨迹。作者总结了队列经历的潜在保护因素，这些因素促进了在被迫迁移中经常面临的健康方面。
