title: Drugs Delivery by Charities: A Possible Epidemiologic Indicator in Children of Undocumented Migrants.
abstract: Describing the health status of a population is difficult, especially in the case of irregular migrants who are now a growing population in western Countries. Data for children of these families are almost inexistent. In the absence of databases on this peculiar pediatric population, we analyzed drugs dispensation by a major Charity to have an insight into their health needs. This observational retrospective study was carried out during the entire 2015 and enrolled 628 undocumented children. A cohort of 8438 adult patients belonging to the same ethnic groups was used for comparison. Respiratory drugs were those most commonly prescribed, followed by those for skin and ocular diseases and by those for gastrointestinal disorders. Also in adults respiratory medications were the most dispensed, but almost in equal measure than cardiovascular drugs.To our knowledge this is the first study on the health needs of undocumented children residing in a western Country. The method we used seems to be a useful method for epidemiological analysis. As could be expected, respiratory and skin diseases ranked first, possibly owing to environmental factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Via Vanvitelli, 32, 20129, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bini
authors.affiliation: IRCCS-Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Clavenna
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Via Vanvitelli, 32, 20129, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Rigamonti
authors.affiliation: Experimental Laboratory for Auxo-endocrinological Research, IRCCS-Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan and Verbania, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sartorio
authors.affiliation: Experimental Laboratory for Auxo-endocrinological Research, IRCCS-Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan and Verbania, Italy.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marazzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Via Vanvitelli, 32, 20129, Milan, Italy.|Istituti Clinici Zucchi, Carate, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fiorini
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Via Vanvitelli, 32, 20129, Milan, Italy. silvano.cella@unimi.it.
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Cella
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002608:Charities; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000069756:Undocumented Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D055553:Prescription Drugs
keywords: Charity; Children; Drugs prescription; Undocumented migrants