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Emergency Department and Primary Care Use by Refugees Compared to Non-refugee Controls

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Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The U.S. grants asylum to 60,000–70,000 refugees yearly. However, little is known about their healthcare utilization practices. We examined data from emergency department (ED) and primary care (PC) visits of 694 refugees and 738 non-refugee controls over a 3 years period at a large academic medical center, comparing visit frequencies, Emergency Severity Index (ESI) scores, diagnoses, and dispositions. Refugees used emergency care services less frequently than the non-refugee controls (1.19 vs. 2.31, p < 0.0001) while there was no difference in their use of primary care services (8.45 vs. 9.07, p = 0.18). Non-English-speaking refugees were more likely to use the ED than English-speaking refugees (mean ED use in study period 1.50 visits vs. 0.73, p < 0.0001). Refugee patients utilized emergency services less often compared to controls. These results differ from previously studied refugee populations. Refugee-specific primary care services in this study population may reduce unnecessary ED use.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Matthew A. Guess

  2. Department of Family Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Kawai O. Tanabe & Fern R. Hauck

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Penn State University, Hershey, PA, USA

    Abigail E. Nelson

  4. Department of Family Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Steven Nguyen

  5. Developmental Pediatrics, University of Virginia Children’s Hospital, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Rebecca J. Scharf

Authors
  1. Matthew A. Guess
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  2. Kawai O. Tanabe
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  3. Abigail E. Nelson
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  4. Steven Nguyen
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  5. Fern R. Hauck
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  6. Rebecca J. Scharf
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rebecca J. Scharf.

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Guess, M.A., Tanabe, K.O., Nelson, A.E. et al. Emergency Department and Primary Care Use by Refugees Compared to Non-refugee Controls. J Immigrant Minority Health 21, 793–800 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0795-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0795-5

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