Health care needs and use of health care services among newly arrived Syrian refugees: a cross-sectional study

Article Figures & Tables

Table 1: Participant characteristics

Characteristic	No. (%) of participants* n = 400
Age, mean ± SD, yr	40.59 ± 14.91
Female sex	221 (55.2)
Sponsorship status
Privately sponsored	209 (52.2)
Government-assisted	177 (44.2)
Blended Visa Office-Referred Program	12 (3.0)
Prefer not to answer	2 (0.5)
Residency in Canada, mean ± SD, mo	4.43 ± 2.24
Education†
Secondary or less	217 (54.2)
High school	84 (21.0)
Bachelor's degree or higher	99 (24.7)
Preferred language
Arabic	238 (59.5)
Armenian	116 (29.0)
English	35 (8.8)
Other‡	11 (2.8)

Note: SD = standard deviation.

*Except where noted otherwise.

†In Syria, secondary is grades 7-9 and high school is grades 10-12.

‡Includes Turkish and Kurdish.

Table 2: Raw scores on the RAND 36-Item Health Survey

Item	Mean ± SD*
Health now compared with 1 yr ago, no. (%)
Better	131 (32.8)
Same	203 (50.8)
Worse	66 (16.5)
Physical health composite standardized T-score	58.23 ±10.49
Physical functioning	85.45 ± 23.03
Role limitations due to physical health problems	78.88 ± 38.05
Pain	73.39 ± 31.85
General health	67.35 ± 20.03
Mental health composite standardized T-score	57.37 ±12.03
Social functioning	81.53 ± 25.88
Role limitation due to emotional problems	69.42 ± 42.29
Energy/fatigue	62.26 ±19.79
Emotional well-being	71.8 ±19.06

Note: SD = standard deviation.

*Except where noted otherwise.

Table 3: Frequency of unmet health care needs and use of health care services

Variable	No. (%) of participants
Has unmet health care needs	196 (49.0)
Has family doctor	319 (79.8)
Has talked to health care provider about physical and/or mental health
Doctor	365 (91.2)
Eye specialist	194 (48.5)
Dentist	168 (42.0)
Social worker	58 (14.5)
Other specialist*	35 (8.8)
Other allied health care provider†	52 (13.0)