Universität zu Köln

Klukowska-Robetzler, Jolanta, Eracleous, Maria, Mueller, Martin, Srivastava, David S., Krummrey, Gert, Keidar, Osnat and Exadaktylos, Aristomenis K. (2018). Increased Urgent Care Center Visits by Southeast European Migrants: A Retrospective, Controlled Trial from Switzerland. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 15 (9). BASEL: MDPI. ISSN 1660-4601

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Abstract

We investigated whether immigrants from Southeast Europe (SE) and Swiss patients have different reasons for visiting the emergency department (ED). Our retrospective data analysis for the years 2013-2017 describes the pattern of ED consultations for immigrants from SE living in Switzerland (Canton Bern), in comparison with Swiss nationals, with a focus on type of referral and reason for admission. A total of 153,320 Swiss citizens and 12,852 immigrants from SE were included in the study. The mean age was 51.30 (SD = 21.13) years for the Swiss patients and 39.70 (SD = 15.87) years for the SE patients. For some countries of origin (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Turkey), there were highly statistically significant differences in sex distribution, with a predominance of males. SE immigrants had a greater proportion of patients in the lower triage level (level 3: SE: 67.3% vs. Swiss: 56.0%) and a greater proportion of patients in the high triage level than the Swiss population (level 1: SE: 3.4% vs. Swiss: 8.8%). SE patients of working age (16-65 years) were six times more often admitted by ambulance than older (65 years) SE patients, whereas this ratio was similar in the Swiss population. In both groups, the fast track service was primarily used for patients of working age (<65) and more than three times more often in the SE than the Swiss group (SE: 39.1%, Swiss: 12.6%). We identified some indications for access to primary care in emergency departments for immigrants and highlighted the need for attention to the role of organizational characteristics of primary health care in Switzerland. We highlighted the need for professional support to improve the quality of healthcare for immigrants. In the future, we will need more primary care services and general practitioners with a migrant background.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Klukowska-Robetzler, Jolanta UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Eracleous, Maria UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Mueller, Martin UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Srivastava, David S. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Krummrey, Gert UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Keidar, Osnat UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Exadaktylos, Aristomenis K. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-174323
DOI:	10.3390/ijerph15091857
Journal or Publication Title:	Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health
Volume:	15
Number:	9
Date:	2018
Publisher:	MDPI
Place of Publication:	BASEL
ISSN:	1660-4601
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language IMMIGRANT GROUPS; HEALTH-CARE; EMERGENCY-DEPARTMENT; MENTAL-HEALTH; SERVICES; REFUGEES; COHORT Multiple languages Environmental Sciences; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/17432