Self-reported health issues in recently arrived migrants to Sweden

Background The awareness of health and health related needs in migrants (i.e. refugees) is crucial for effective public support systems. For this and other reasons a regional survey was established to address various health issues in recently arrived migrants to Scania. The questions that the present study is seeking answers for relates health, changes in health as well as self-reported possibility to affect health in general but also in relation to level of education. Methods Data collection occurred between February 13, 2015 and February 12, 2016. The inclusion criteria were recently arrived adult migrants speaking Arabic, Dari, Pashto or Somali participating in the public support system. Questions on selfreported health, self-reported changes in health since the move to Sweden, self-reported possibility to affect own health as well as education was examined among others in an extensive health survey. The survey was funded by the European refugee fund. Results 681 respondents took part in the survey where 94% were Arabic speaking. 69% were men and 51% were 18 to 34 years. 23% graded self-reported health as very well and 46% as well. Highly educated reported very well to a higher degree (30%) than the primary (17%) and the secondary level (12%) (pvalue< 0.01). Change in health was reported by 32% as negative and by 21% as positive. No significant difference was observed in relation to education. 70% reported the possibility of affecting own health as very important and the comparison with education was significant (p-value