Systematic health screening of refugees after resettlement in recipient countries: a scoping review

Abstract

Context: Health screening of refugees after settlement in a recipient country is an important tool to find and treat diseases. Currently, there are no available reviews on refugee health screening after resettlement.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted using the online Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (‘MEDLINE’) database. Data extraction and synthesis were performed according to the PRISMA statement.

Results: The search retrieved 342 articles. Relevance screening was conducted on all abstracts/titles. The final 53 studies included only original scientific articles on health screening of refugees conducted after settlement in another country. The 53 studies were all from North America, Australia/New Zealand and Europe. Because of differences in country policies, the screenings were conducted differently in the various locations. The studies demonstrated great variation in who was targeted for screening and how screening was conducted. The disease most frequently screened for was tuberculosis; this was done in approximately half of the studies. Few studies included screening for mental health and non-infectious diseases like diabetes and hypertension.

Conclusion: Health screening of refugees after resettlement is conducted according to varying local policies and there are vast differences in which health conditions are covered in the screening and whom the screening is available to.