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[Immigrant children at the hospital]
Insights
Pediatric immigrant admissions are rising, with Pakistani children most common. These children face more imported diseases and nutritional issues, requiring better healthcare support and cultural understanding.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Context:
- Study conducted at Aker hospital, Oslo over one year.
- 227 immigrant children admitted to the Paediatric Department.
- Immigrant children represented 16.5% of total admissions.
Purpose:
- To analyze the health status and hospital admission patterns of immigrant children.
- To identify specific health challenges faced by this population.
- To assess the need for improved healthcare services for immigrant children.
Summary:
- Immigrant children experienced longer hospital stays compared to the general pediatric population.
- Pakistani children constituted the majority (57.7%) of immigrant admissions.
- Higher incidence of imported diseases and nutritional deficiencies (e.g., iron deficiency) observed, particularly in toddlers.
- Interpreter use was suboptimal, highlighting communication barriers.
- Healthcare providers need enhanced cultural competency and knowledge of immigrant health needs.
Impact:
- Highlights the growing demand on healthcare systems due to increasing immigrant and refugee populations.
- Underscores the necessity for culturally sensitive healthcare practices and policies.
- Suggests a need for increased diversity within healthcare personnel to better serve immigrant communities.
Abstract:
The article presents a one year study of 227 immigrant children admitted to the Paediatric Department at Aker hospital, Oslo. Immigrant children comprised 16.5% of the admissions and, on average, had a longer stay in hospital than was the case for the department as a whole. Pakistani children were in the majority and accounted for 57.7% of the total number of admissions. Immigrant children show a higher incidence of imported diseases, due to visits to their native countries, mainly third world countries. Nutritional problems such as iron deficiency were particularly frequent in children between one and three years of age. An interpreter was used for 17.5% of the admitted children. The study showed, however, that interpreters should have been used even more. An increasing number of immigrant and refugee children impose new demands on today's health personnel: the need for further knowledge about the immigrants' cultural background and way of life. A larger proportion of immigrants among health personnel in our hospitals would prove beneficial.