Health issues in newly arrived Afican refugees attending general practice clinics in Melbourne

Abstract

Objective: To identify the most common health issues diagnosed by general practitioners in newly arrived African refugees. Design: Descriptive study based on a purposive sample of six GPs to collate data from medical records of patients from African countries who had attended their clinics for the first time between 1 January and 30 June 2005. Setting: Two community health centres and two private general practices in metropolitan Melbourne. Participants: African refugee patients who arrived in Australia after 1 June 2004 and were seen by the six participating GPs between 1 January and 30 June 2005. Main outcome measures: Demographic characteristics, laboratory test results and final diagnose..