Demographic and Clinical Findings of Refugee COVID-19 Patients Admitted to the Emergency Department

ABSTRACT

Objective: Turkey is one of the countries hosting the highest number of refugees in the world. The aim of this study was to examine the demographic and clinical data and the hospital costs of refugees who presented at the emergency department (ED). Methods: The study included 1004 patients aged >18 years who presented at the hospital ED between 1 April 2020 and 31 December 2020. The Mann-Whitney U test was applied to comparisons of two groups and the Kruskal-Wallis test to more than two groups. Categorical variables were compared using the Pearson chi-square, Fisher's Exact chi-square test, or the Fisher-Freeman-Halton test. Results: The rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cerebrovascular disease (CVD) (40%) were seen to be higher in patients in the intensive care units than in those in the wards. It was observed that the costs of the group hospitalized from the ward to the intensive care unit were higher (p<0.001). Conclusion: Patients with COPD and CVD were seen to have a more severe disease course. There is a need for further studies to be able to better understand how refugees are affected by Coronavirus disease-2019. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of European Archives of Medical Research is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)