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Noninfectious Disease Among the Bhutanese Refugee Population at a United States Urban Clinic

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Abstract

A large number of Bhutanese are currently being resettled to the United States. A high prevalence of noninfectious diseases has been noted in some refugee groups, but data on the Bhutanese refugee population are lacking. A retrospective, chart review study was conducted to determine proportion of noninfectious disease among ethnically Nepali Bhutanese refugees (n = 66) seen at the Grady Refugee Clinic (GRC). GRC disease proportions included the following: 52 % of the patients were overweight/obese (n = 34), 23 % were hypertensive (n = 15), 12 % had vitamin B12 deficiency (n = 8), 15 % had depression (n = 10), and 14 % had diabetes (n = 9). Nine (90 %) patients with depression had chronic disease compared to 30 (54 %) of the patients without depression. The study found a substantial burden of chronic disease, micronutrient deficiency, and depression in the GRC. Further research is needed to accurately describe the disease burden in refugee populations and to evaluate pre-resettlement disease prevention strategies to provide a framework for future public health interventions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Emory University, 49 Jesse Hill Junior Drive, Suite 403, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA

    Gayathri S. Kumar & Michael S. Saenger

  2. Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Selina Varma & Molly Burleson

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Brandon A. Kohrt

  4. Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, Center for Global Health, CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Paul Cantey

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  1. Gayathri S. Kumar
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  2. Selina Varma
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  3. Michael S. Saenger
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  4. Molly Burleson
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  5. Brandon A. Kohrt
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  6. Paul Cantey
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Correspondence to Michael S. Saenger.

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Kumar, G.S., Varma, S., Saenger, M.S. et al. Noninfectious Disease Among the Bhutanese Refugee Population at a United States Urban Clinic. J Immigrant Minority Health 16, 922–925 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-013-9800-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-013-9800-1

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