Department of General Surgery, Insel Gruppe AG, Kreditorenbuchhaltung, Freiburgstrasse 18, 3010 Bern , Switzerland.
Department of Special Needs Education, University of Oslo, 0315 Oslo, Norway.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jul 27;19(15):9157. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19159157.
Four decades of civil war, violence, and destabilisation have forced millions of Afghans to flee their homes and to move to other countries worldwide. This increasing phenomenon may challenge physicians unfamiliar with the health status of this population, which may be markedly different from that of the host country. Moreover, several factors during their migration, such as transport in closed containers, accidental injuries, malnutrition, and accommodation in detention centres and refugee camps have a major influence on the health of refugees. By taking into account the variety of the specific diseases among migrant groups, the diversity of the origins of refugees and asylum seekers, and the increasing numbers of Afghan refugees, in this review we focus on the population of Afghans and describe their health status with the aim of optimising our medical approach and management. Our literature review shows that the most prevalent reported infections are tuberculosis and other respiratory tract infections and parasitic diseases, for example leishmaniasis, malaria, and intestinal parasitic infections. Anaemia, hyperlipidaemia, arterial hypertension, diabetes, smoking, overweight, malnutrition, low socioeconomic status, and poor access to healthcare facilities are additional risk factors for non-communicable diseases among Afghan refugees. With regards mental health issues, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are the most common diagnoses and culture shock and the feeling of being uprooted modulate their persistence. Further research is needed in order to provide us with extensive, high-quality data about the health status of Afghan refugees. The main objective of this review is to identify protective factors which could ensure key health concepts and good clinical practice.
四十年来的内战、暴力和动荡迫使数百万阿富汗人逃离家园，前往世界各地的其他国家。这种日益增多的现象可能会给不熟悉该人群健康状况的医生带来挑战，因为他们的健康状况可能与所在国明显不同。此外，在迁移过程中，如在封闭的容器中运输、意外伤害、营养不良以及在拘留中心和难民营中住宿等几个因素对难民的健康有重大影响。考虑到移民群体中各种特定疾病的差异、难民和寻求庇护者来源的多样性以及阿富汗难民人数的增加，我们在这篇综述中重点关注阿富汗人口，并描述他们的健康状况，旨在优化我们的医疗方法和管理。我们的文献综述表明，报告的最常见感染是结核病和其他呼吸道感染以及寄生虫病，例如利什曼病、疟疾和肠道寄生虫感染。贫血、高脂血症、动脉高血压、糖尿病、吸烟、超重、营养不良、社会经济地位低下以及难以获得医疗保健设施是阿富汗难民中发生非传染性疾病的其他危险因素。至于心理健康问题，抑郁和创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）是最常见的诊断，文化冲击和被连根拔起的感觉会影响其持续存在。需要进一步研究，以便为我们提供有关阿富汗难民健康状况的广泛、高质量数据。这篇综述的主要目的是确定保护因素，以确保关键的健康概念和良好的临床实践。
