Non-communicable diseases in undocumented migrants: 10-year temporal trend, relative risk and pharmacological treatment

Abstract

Undocumented migrants are a large part of the population in the European Union (EU). Their health needs are only partially known and might be mainly related to chronic conditions. We studied the health records of 53.683 undocumented migrants receiving medical assistance over the last 10 years from a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Milan, Italy. To identify NCD, we used the International Classification of Diseases – 9th revision (ICD-9) diagnostic codes and the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) codes of the prescribed drugs. Among persons having at least one contact with OSF in the period of the study, 17,292 had one or more NCD. The percentage of subjects with at least one NCD increased from 2011 to 2020. The risk of having NCD was higher in women than in men (RR = 0.87, 95% CI 0.85–0.89) and increased with age (p for trend < 0.001). Ethnicity affected the relative risk. Africans and Asians had a lower risk than Europeans of having cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders; risk was higher in Latin Americans. In migrants from Asia and Latin America the relative risk of diabetes was increased. In Europe, public interventions aiming at the prevention and treatment of NCD should include undocumented migrants.