COVID-19 pandemic unmasking cardiovascular risk factors and non-communicable diseases among migrant workers: a cross-sectional study in Singapore.
BMJ Open
; 12(5): e055903, 2022 05 24.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1865171
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
This study aims to report the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) and other non-communicable diseases among migrant workers in Singapore admitted for COVID-19 infection, to highlight disease burden and the need for changes in health screening and healthcare delivery in this unique population.SETTING:
The study was conducted in the largest tertiary hospital in Singapore.DESIGN:
Retrospective cross-sectional study.PARTICIPANTS:
883 migrant workers who had mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 infection admitted to three isolation wards between 6 April 2020 and 31 May 2020 were included in this study. OUTCOMEMEASURES:
The outcome measures were the prevalence of pre-existing and newly diagnosed comorbid conditions and the prevalence of CVRFs-diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia-and non-communicable diseases at the time of discharge. The OR of having specific CVRFs depending on country of origin was generated via multivariate logistic regression analysis.RESULTS:
The median age of our study population was 45 years. 17.0% had pre-existing conditions and 25.9% received new diagnoses. Of the new diagnoses, 15.7% were acute medical conditions and 84.3% chronic medical conditions. The prevalence of CVRFs was higher in Southeast Asian and South Asian migrant workers compared with Chinese. The prevalence of non-communicable diseases on discharge was highest among Southeast Asians (49.4%).CONCLUSIONS:
The COVID-19 outbreak in a large number of migrant workers in Singapore unmasked a significant disease burden among them, increasing stakeholders' interests in their welfare. Moving forward, system-level changes are necessary to deliver healthcare sustainably and effect improvements in migrant workers' health.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Transients and Migrants
/
Cardiovascular Diseases
/
Noncommunicable Diseases
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
BMJ Open
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bmjopen-2021-055903
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