Gökhan Yıldırımkaya

A Community-Based Survey on Syrian Refugee Women’s Health and Its Predictors in Şanliurfa, Turkey

ABSTRACT Reproductive characteristics, mental health symptoms, micronutrient deficiencies, and symptoms of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were determined among married Syrian refugee women aged 15–49 years who were living outside of camps in 2015, using probability sampling. Of the 458 participants, 51.3 percent married before the age of 18 years. Early-age marriages and number of desired children increased after the war. In multivariable analyses, education (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.2; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.2–1.3) and length of stay in Şanlıurfa (aOR = 1.2; 95% CI = 1.1–1.2) were independently associated with early marriage. Approximately 16 percent of women were pregnant, and 26.7 percent of them had not received prenatal care; 47.7 percent had had a pregnancy loss; 50.8 percent reported symptoms of STIs. Of those who were sexually active, 37.8 percent were not using contraception. The prevalence of iron, B12, and folic acid deficiencies was 50 percent, 45.6 percent, and 10.5 percent, respectively. Early marriage (aOR = 2.2; 95% CI = 1.4–3.5) and number of desired children (aOR = 5.03; 95% CI = 3.2–7.9) were associated with not using contraception. Most (89.7 percent) women reported at least two mental health symptoms; lack of social support (aOR = 2.6; 95% CI = 1.3–5.3), language barrier (aOR = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.01–5.2), and B12 deficiency (aOR = 1.8; 95% CI = 1.01–3.4) were associated with such symptoms. The findings demonstrate the need for reproductive health and psychosocial services.

Community-Based Assessment to Determine the Seroprevalence of HBsAg, Anti-HBs, Anti-HCV, HIV, and Syphilis for Reproductive-Aged Female Syrian Refugees Living in Sanliurfa, Turkey

Background: Sanliurfa, a city of southeast Turkey hosted to approximately 401,050 Syrian refugees. There are no data about the sexually transmitted infections (STI) of Syrian refugees in literature. Hence, it was aimed to determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigens (HBsAg), hepatitis B surface antibodies (anti-HBs), hepatitis C virus antibodies (anti-HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and syphilis. Methods: A multi-purpose cross sectional study was conducted between April and May 2015 in different districts of Sanliurfa. This study was supported by United Nations Population Fund with the project titled “Determination of General Health Status and Reproductive Health Problems in Syrian Immigrants”. The sample size was calculated as 460 houses by the probability cluster sampling method. A married Syrian woman was chosen in each house, thus study was successfully carried out in 458 houses. Data included socio-demographic variables; the symptoms of vaginal purulent discharge, bleeding, abdominal pain, and dysuria were collected from each participant. Eight mL of venous blood samples were collected from participants. Sera were analyzed for HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HCV, HIV, syphilis. Results: The mean age of the total participants was 30.0 ± 8.9 years. The households of the family ranged from 2 27; the mean household size was 9.9 ± 4.9 persons. The seroprevalence rates of the HB sAg, anti-HBs, anti-HCV seropositivity were 4.1%, 17.7%, 0.4%, respectively. No one had neither HIV nor syphilis antibodies. Conclusions: Screening should be provided for STI for female refugees and they should be educated about the increasing awareness, transmission, control, prevention of STIs, blood-borne diseases.