Syrian Refugees Seeking Hospital Care in Beirut: A Cross-Sectional Study of Reasons for Hospital Admissions

Lebanon has the highest Syrian refugee density worldwide. The influx of Syrian refugees has had various impacts on Lebanon, with one of the most significant effects observed in the already exhausted healthcare system. This study aimed to determine the reasons for hospitalization among registered Syrian refugees in Beirut who were admitted to Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH) between December 2017 and June 2020.

Data from 7,480 diagnosed cases were collected from the RHUH archives between December 2017 and June 2020 and were analyzed using SPSS (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). The collected data included information related to demographics, admission date, primary diagnosis, and other related medical problems. Variations and correlations were then tested.

Of the cases, 73.4% were females; the mean age was 28 ± 16.23 years. Fifty-seven percent of the admitted cases were solely due to pregnancy, childbirth, and puerperium reasons, and 91.14% of the deliveries were single deliveries by cesarean section. Common reasons for hospitalization were injuries (5.8%) and diseases of the digestive system (6.8%), circulatory system (4.7%), and respiratory system (4.4%). Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) constituted 61% of all hospital admissions, while only 6.6% belonged to communicable diseases. Reasons for hospitalization and the type of diagnosed diseases were associated with gender and age groups (p-values <0.001).

The major reasons for hospitalization among Syrian refugees were related to pregnancies and NCDs. The burden of the Syrian refugee influx on the Lebanese healthcare system can be alleviated by improving community health education, public health services, and conditions for refugees.