Author:
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Giorgi Rossi, Paolo; Riccardo, Flavia; Pezzarossi, Annamaria; Ballotari, Paola; Dente, Maria Grazia; Napoli, Christian; Chiarenza, Antonio; Velasco Muñoz, César; Noori, Teymur; Declich, Silvia
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Abstract:
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We conducted a scoping review of literature to improve our
understanding of the accuracy of infectious disease monitoring
in migrants in the Europe. We searched PubMed for papers
relevant to the topic including: case reports, observational and
experimental studies, reviews, guidelines or policy documents;
published after 1994. We identified 532 papers, 27 of which were
included in the review. Legislation and right to access health
care influence both the accuracy of rates and risk measures
under estimating the at risk population, i.e., the denominator.
Furthermore, the number of reported cases, i.e., the numerator,
may also include cases not accounted for in the denominator.
Both biases lead to an overestimated disease occurrence.
Restriction to healthcare access and low responsiveness may
cause under-detection of cases, however a quantification of this
phenomenon has not been produced. On the contrary, screening for
asymptomatic diseases increases ascertainment leading to
increased detection of cases. Incompleteness of denominator data
underestimates the at-risk population. In conclusion, most
studies show a lower probability of under-reporting infectious
diseases in migrants compared with native populations. |