Department of Woman and Child Health and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo Gemelli 89, Rome, 00168, Italy.
Gruppo di Studio del Gruppo di Lavoro Nazionale per il Bambino Migrante - Società Italiana di Pediatria, Rome, Italy.
Ital J Pediatr. 2024 Aug 19;50(1):151. doi: 10.1186/s13052-024-01724-8.
Increases in migration patterns in the recent years have led to a continuously growing number of unaccompanied foreign minors (UFMs) entering Italy. As part of processing and integration, age assessment is performed by pediatricians upon request of regulatory bodies. Updated guidelines for age estimation procedures were published in 2020 in order to prioritize the well-being of the minors and the accuracy of the assessment. Nonetheless, literature suggests that the recently established multidisciplinary approach has not yet been widely adopted by physicians.
A cross-sectional exploratory survey was distributed to pediatricians in Italy in order to gauge their range of experience with UFMs and age assessment protocols.
In total 344 pediatricians participated in the survey, originating from varied regions in Italy. Out of pediatricians who reported conducting age assessment procedures (38.9%), only a small fraction (14.2%) confirmed being knowledgeable about the methodology. Instead, a significant portion (28.8% and 56.4%) either had partial awareness or lacked knowledge of these procedures. These responses significantly differed when comparing hospital and outpatient pediatricians or according to their geographical area of work (p <0.05).
Survey responses suggest that a gap in awareness and experience regarding a multidisciplinary approach to age estimations still exists, likely in part due to a lack of resources, especially at the regional level. In the future, efforts towards the education of professionals and mobilization of resources for investment in the field will be crucial for the improvement of work with UFMs and other migrant populations.
近年来，移民模式的增加导致越来越多的孤身未成年移民（Unaccompanied Foreign Minors，UFMs）进入意大利。作为处理和融入的一部分，儿科医生应监管机构的要求进行年龄评估。为了优先考虑未成年人的福利和评估的准确性，2020 年发布了更新的年龄估计程序指南。然而，文献表明，最近建立的多学科方法尚未被医生广泛采用。
向意大利的儿科医生分发了一项横断面探索性调查，以评估他们在处理 UFMs 和年龄评估协议方面的经验范围。
共有 344 名儿科医生参与了这项调查，他们来自意大利不同的地区。在报告进行年龄评估程序的儿科医生中（38.9%），只有一小部分（14.2%）确认了解这些方法。相比之下，相当一部分（28.8%和 56.4%）要么对这些程序只有部分了解，要么完全不了解。医院和门诊儿科医生之间以及根据他们的工作地理区域之间的这些反应存在显著差异（p<0.05）。
调查结果表明，对于多学科年龄评估方法的认识和经验仍然存在差距，这可能部分归因于资源的缺乏，尤其是在区域层面。未来，专业人员教育和为该领域投资调动资源的努力对于改善与 UFMs 和其他移民群体的工作将至关重要。
