Immigration increases physical, mental, and social health problems. Emergency departments constitute resources that refugees can easily access and where they frequently present. Physicians from every specialty (chest diseases, thoracic surgery, internal diseases, etc.) may be consulted if needed. We aimed to compare demographic data and clinical characteristics of Syrian refugees and Turkish citizens in our emergency department. This study was an observational cross-sectional study. It included patients who presented to the Adult Emergency Department between April 1 and July 1, 2018. The patients were grouped into Syrian refugee and Turkish citizen groups. Patient age, gender, International Statistical Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) diagnostic codes, and judicial case status were recorded from physician-patient outpatient clinic data records. Disease diagnoses and judicial cases were statistically compared between the two groups. A total of 30,749 patients presented to the emergency department during the study period. Of these, 999 were Syrian refugees. The mean ages of the Syrian refugees and Turkish citizens were significantly different. There were also differences between the two groups in the top five diagnostic codes (M79-Soft tissue disorders, J39-Other disorders of the upper respiratory tract; R51-Headache; R10-Abdominal and pelvic pain; M54-Dorsalgia). A comparison of the judicial cases also revealed a difference in mean age between the groups. Fewer specific disease diagnoses were identified among Syrian refugees. This may be explained by difficulties related to language barriers between the refugees and healthcare personnel.
Keywords: ICD diagnostic code; Syrian refugees; emergency department; judicial case.