The general health status of newly arrived asylum seekers in Denmark

The number of asylum seekers in Europe is increasing and is likely to do so continuously due to conflicts, poverty and climate. Asylum seekers are exposed to many health risk factors related to their migration process and this study aimed to explore their general health status on arrival at an immigration country.

A retrospective study including 1907 general health assessments (GHAs) of adult asylum seekers arriving in Denmark between 1 September 2017 and 31 December 2019 was undertaken. The GHA is offered to all adult asylum seekers as part of the health-care reception programme. Only asylum seekers who attended the GHA within 1 month of their arrival in Denmark were included. Data comprised sociodemographic factors, health outcomes, and indication of exposure to trauma and torture. Data were described by absolute and relative frequencies, means and through regression analyses.

The majority of asylum seekers were male (58.6%) of Middle Eastern origin with a mean age of 33.6 years (SD = 12.1). More than half (60.1%) of the participants had one or more physical health complaints, whereas mental health complaints were less frequent (25.0%). Asylum seekers, who had been exposed to trauma were more likely to have physical health complaints (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.22;1.89) and to have symptoms of mental health problems (OR 12.71, 95% CI 8.76;18.45). These complaints were substantially elevated for survivors of torture.

This relatively high prevalence of health complaints, both physical and mental, emphasises the necessity of providing appropriate and timely health care from the very beginning of the asylum process.