Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Colombia using respondent-driven sampling (RDS).
BMJ Open
; 12(10): e054820, 2022 10 05.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2053204
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To determine factors associated with adherence to COVID-19 mitigation measures, related symptoms and testing, as well as pandemic-related income loss among Venezuelan refugee and migrant adults in urban and border areas of Colombia.DESIGN:
Phone-based respondent-driven samplingSETTING:
Bogotá and Norte de Santander, Colombia.PARTICIPANTS:
605 adult Venezuelan refugees and migrants residing in Bogotá (n=305) and Norte de Santander (n=300), who arrived in Colombia after 2014 and completed the survey in August and September 2020. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMEMEASURES:
Full COVID-19 compliance (vs incomplete or no compliance), any COVID-19-related symptoms (vs none) and income loss due to isolation measures in Colombia (vs no income change or increase in income).RESULTS:
Older age was associated with lower odds of compliance with physical distancing measures (0.94, 0.90-0.99; p=0.01) for those in Bogotá. Nearly 15% of refugees and migrants in both locations (81 of 605) experienced at least one symptom consistent with COVID-19. Having a health condition was associated with higher odds of experiencing COVID-19-related symptoms in Bogotá (4.00, 1.22-13.06; p=0.02) and Norte de Santander (6.99, 1.95-24.99; p=0.003). Around 8% in both locations (48 of 605) were tested for COVID-19. Around 90% in both locations (537 of 605) had trouble earning an income after the introduction of isolation measures, and the median reported monthly income decreased by half in Bogotá and by 30% in Norte de Santander. A higher level of education (3.46, 1.02-11.75; p=0.05) was associated with higher odds of income loss among participants in Norte de Santander.CONCLUSIONS:
Results indicate high compliance with COVID-19 mitigation measures, low testing rates and high pandemic-related income loss among Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Colombia. This study provides insights into a hard-to-reach refugee and migrant population in Colombia; additional study on the effects of the pandemic on hidden populations is warranted.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Refugees
/
Transients and Migrants
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adult
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Colombia
/
Venezuela
Language:
English
Journal:
BMJ Open
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bmjopen-2021-054820
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