Prevalence of non-communicable disease among displaced Rohingya in southern Bangladesh: a first look at a persecuted ethnic minority from Myanmar.

Abstract

In Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, 860 356 Rohingya living in refugee camps have experienced decades of persecution. Little is known about disease burden in this population. A retrospective review of deidentified electronic health records (EHR) of 51 270 Rohingya attending two primary health clinics in Kutupalong and Balukahli from October 2017 to October 2019 was performed. A novel EHR system named NIROG was used for patients' medical records'. Females comprised 53.8% of patients. The median age of females was 25 y and for males it was 19 y. Prevalence of adult hypertension and diabetes was 14.1% and 11.0%, respectively. Also, 16.6% of children aged <5 y had moderate or severe acute malnutrition, while 36.6% were at risk of malnutrition. Body mass index (BMI) analysis showed that 34.4% of adults were underweight. Females were more likely to be hypertensive, diabetic, overweight/obese and malnourished. BMI had a statistically significant positive correlation with fasting blood glucose levels and systolic blood pressure. The use of a portable EHR system was highly effective at providing longitudinal care in a humanitarian setting. Significant proportions of the adult population appear to have hypertension or diabetes, pointing to a critical need for management of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The findings of the current study will help stakeholders to plan effective prevention and management of NCDs among displaced Rohingya and other displaced populations.