title: Challenges in Identifying Refugees in National Health Data Sets.
abstract: To evaluate publicly available data sets to determine their utility for studying refugee health.
  
  
  
  We searched for keywords describing refugees in data sets within the Society of General Internal Medicine Dataset Compendium and the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research database. We included in our analysis US-based data sets with publicly available documentation and a self-defined, health-related focus that allowed for an examination of patient-level factors.
  
  
  
  Of the 68 data sets that met the study criteria, 37 (54%) registered keyword matches related to refugees, but only 2 uniquely identified refugees.
  
  
  
  Few health data sets identify refugee status among participants, presenting barriers to understanding refugees' health and health care needs.
  
  
  
  Information about refugee status in national health surveys should include expanded demographic questions and focus on mental health and chronic disease.
authors.affiliation: Wagahta Semere and Emily A. Wang are with the Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Katherine Yun is with the Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Cyrus Ahalt and Brie Williams are with the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.
authors.forename: Wagahta
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Semere
authors.affiliation: Wagahta Semere and Emily A. Wang are with the Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Katherine Yun is with the Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Cyrus Ahalt and Brie Williams are with the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.affiliation: Wagahta Semere and Emily A. Wang are with the Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Katherine Yun is with the Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Cyrus Ahalt and Brie Williams are with the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.
authors.forename: Cyrus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ahalt
authors.affiliation: Wagahta Semere and Emily A. Wang are with the Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Katherine Yun is with the Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Cyrus Ahalt and Brie Williams are with the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.
authors.forename: Brie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Wagahta Semere and Emily A. Wang are with the Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Katherine Yun is with the Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Cyrus Ahalt and Brie Williams are with the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.
authors.forename: Emily A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000208:ethnology; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health / Q000208:ethnology; D012036:Refugees / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology