TY - JOUR
T1 - Factors influencing the accuracy of infectious disease reporting in migrants
T2 - A scoping review
AU - Rossi, Paolo Giorgi
AU - Riccardo, Flavia
AU - Pezzarossi, Annamaria
AU - Ballotari, Paola
AU - Dente, Maria Grazia
AU - Napoli, Christian
AU - Chiarenza, Antonio
AU - Munoz, Cesar Velasco
AU - Noori, Teymur
AU - Declich, Silvia
PY - 2017/7/5
Y1 - 2017/7/5
N2 - We conducted a scoping review of literature to improve our understanding of the accuracy of infectious disease monitoring in migrants in the Europe. We searched PubMed for papers relevant to the topic including: case reports, observational and experimental studies, reviews, guidelines or policy documents; published after 1994. We identified 532 papers, 27 of which were included in the review. Legislation and right to access health care influence both the accuracy of rates and risk measures under estimating the at risk population, i.e., the denominator. Furthermore, the number of reported cases, i.e., the numerator, may also include cases not accounted for in the denominator. Both biases lead to an overestimated disease occurrence. Restriction to healthcare access and low responsiveness may cause under-detection of cases, however a quantification of this phenomenon has not been produced. On the contrary, screening for asymptomatic diseases increases ascertainment leading to increased detection of cases. Incompleteness of denominator data underestimates the at-risk population. In conclusion, most studies show a lower probability of under-reporting infectious diseases in migrants compared with native populations.
AB - We conducted a scoping review of literature to improve our understanding of the accuracy of infectious disease monitoring in migrants in the Europe. We searched PubMed for papers relevant to the topic including: case reports, observational and experimental studies, reviews, guidelines or policy documents; published after 1994. We identified 532 papers, 27 of which were included in the review. Legislation and right to access health care influence both the accuracy of rates and risk measures under estimating the at risk population, i.e., the denominator. Furthermore, the number of reported cases, i.e., the numerator, may also include cases not accounted for in the denominator. Both biases lead to an overestimated disease occurrence. Restriction to healthcare access and low responsiveness may cause under-detection of cases, however a quantification of this phenomenon has not been produced. On the contrary, screening for asymptomatic diseases increases ascertainment leading to increased detection of cases. Incompleteness of denominator data underestimates the at-risk population. In conclusion, most studies show a lower probability of under-reporting infectious diseases in migrants compared with native populations.
KW - Infectious diseases
KW - Migrant health
KW - Surveillance
KW - Under-reporting
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U2 - 10.3390/ijerph14070720
DO - 10.3390/ijerph14070720
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85022009452
VL - 14
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
SN - 1661-7827
IS - 7
M1 - 720
ER -