Emergency Department Visits for Minor Illnesses Among Recent Refugee and Immigrant Children

Do recent immigrant children have a higher mean percentage of all minor illness visits seen in emergency departments (EDs) than Ontario-born children?In this population-based matched cohort study including 458 597 children, adjusted differences in the mean percentage of all minor illnesses seen in the ED were significantly lower for refugee groups (government-assisted refugees,−5.11%; privately sponsored refugees, −5.24%; successful asylum-seekers, −3.73%) and nonrefugee immigrants (−4.24%) compared with Ontario-born children.These findings suggest that recently arrived immigrant children were not more likely to use emergency departments over primary care for minor illness compared with Ontario-born children.

Corresponding Author: Astrid Guttmann, MDCM, MSc, ICES, V-Wing, 2075 Bayview Ave, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, Canada (astrid.guttmann@ices.on.ca).

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