Neonatal outcomes in Syrian and other refugees treated in a tertiary hospital in Turkey

Authors

İSTEMİ HAN ÇELİK
ZEHRA ARSLAN
DİLEK ULUBAŞ IŞIK
ÖMER LÜTFİ TAPISIZ
LEYLA MOLLAMAHMUTOĞLU
AHMET YAĞMUR BAŞ
NİHAL DEMİREL

DOI

10.3906/sag-1806-86

Abstract

Background/aim: Turkey accepts refugees from many countries, principally Syria. More than 2.7 million refugees live in Turkey.We evaluated the neonatal outcomes of refugees. Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical and demographic characteristics of refugee infants born in our hospital between August 2013 and September 2016. Results: Refugees (718 Syrian, 136 Iraqi, 32 Afghani, and 21 of other nationalities) accounted for 907 of 49,413 births. The mean refugee maternal age was lower than that of Turkish women, whereas the gestational age (GA) and birthweight were similar. Refugees required fewer cesarean sections but exhibited greater small- and large-for-GA rates (P < 0.05). Refugee and Turkish infant mortality rates did not differ significantly (0.8 vs. 0.4%). Eighty-nine (12.3%) refugee neonates and 6682 (13.5%) Turkish neonates were admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Jaundice and perinatal asphyxia were significantly more common in refugees, whereas respiratory distress syndrome, GA ≤32 weeks, and infant birthweight

Keywords

Neonatal outcomes, refugees, Syrian

First Page

815

Last Page

820

Recommended Citation

ÇELİK, İSTEMİ HAN; ARSLAN, ZEHRA; IŞIK, DİLEK ULUBAŞ; TAPISIZ, ÖMER LÜTFİ; MOLLAMAHMUTOĞLU, LEYLA; BAŞ, AHMET YAĞMUR; and DEMİREL, NİHAL (2019) "Neonatal outcomes in Syrian and other refugees treated in a tertiary hospital in Turkey," Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences: Vol. 49: No. 3, Article 17. https://doi.org/10.3906/sag-1806-86
Available at: https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/medical/vol49/iss3/17