, Edip Burak Karaaslan 1
, Mücahit Şentürk 1
, Yavuzselim Koca 2
, Ahmet Demirel 3
, Asım Kalkan 1
2University of Health Sciences Turkey, Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital, Clinic of Emergency Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey
3University of Health Sciences Turkey, Basakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital, Clinic of Emergency Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey
Abstract
Objective: Turkey is one of the countries hosting the highest number of refugees in the world. The aim of this study was to examine the demographic and clinical data and the hospital costs of refugees who presented at the emergency department (ED).
Methods: The study included 1004 patients aged >18 years who presented at the hospital ED between 1 April 2020 and 31 December 2020. The Mann-Whitney U test was applied to comparisons of two groups and the Kruskal-Wallis test to more than two groups. Categorical variables were compared using the Pearson chi-square, Fisher’s Exact chi-square test, or the Fisher-Freeman-Halton test.
Results: The rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cerebrovascular disease (CVD) (40%) were seen to be higher in patients in the intensive care units than in those in the wards. It was observed that the costs of the group hospitalized from the ward to the intensive care unit were higher (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Patients with COPD and CVD were seen to have a more severe disease course. There is a need for further studies to be able to better understand how refugees are affected by Coronavirus disease-2019.