The Risk of Intensive Care Admission and Mortality in Neonates of Migrants

Claire Breidahl, David Preen, Maryam Mozooni

Research output: Contribution to journalAbstract/Meeting Abstractpeer-review

Abstract

Background: Perinatal health outcomes in migrants have received attention recently. However, the relationship between migrant status and both admission to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and NICU outcomes is unclear. We reviewed the risk of admission to NICU and NICU mortality in neonates of migrant women compared with native-born women.

Methods: A systematic review with narrative synthesis was conducted. Electronic bibliographic databases and grey literature were searched for quantitative observational studies published in English since 2000.

Results: Twenty-two studies met the inclusion criteria. One study assessed NICU mortality, finding no significant difference between neonates of migrants and neonates of native mothers. Twenty-one studies reported on NICU admissions, of which seven studies found that neonates of migrants had an increased risk of admission, three found decreased risk among neonates of migrants, and seven found no significant difference in migrant women compared with native-born women. The other four studies had mixed findings, with migrants from some world regions at increased risk and other groups at decreased or equal risk of NICU admission. Four studies distinguished migrants by refugee status and three reported neonates of women from refugee background were at increased risk of NICU admission, while one found no significant difference compared to their native-born counterparts. There were no trends in risk according to world region or income status of the destination country.

Conclusions: Further research is needed to investigate the risk of NICU admission for neonates of women from refugee and migrant backgrounds in comparison to neonates of native-born women.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)146
JournalJournal of Paediatrics and Child Health
Volume58
Issue numberS2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2022

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