Childhood burns in Sulaimaniyah province, Iraqi Kurdistan: a prospective study of admissions and outpatients.

Background: While it is globally observed that young children are at a higher risk of burn injuries, little is known about childhood burns in Iraqi Kurdistan. This study was undertaken to describe the epidemiology of burns amongst pre-school children in this region.

Methods: A prospective study was undertaken from November 2007 to November 2008 involving all children aged 0-5 years attending the burns centre in Sulaimaniyah province for a new burn injury whether treated as an outpatient or admitted to hospital.

Kurdish men's experiences of migration-related mental health issues.

Background: The migration process may impose stress on the mental health of immigrants.

Aim: To describe the experiences of immigrant men of Kurdish ethnicity during and after migration to Sweden with regard to mental health issues.

Method: Using the grounded theory method, we conducted a focus group interview with four Kurdish men and in-depth individual interviews with 10 other Kurdish men.

Acculturation strategies in migration stress among Kurdish men in Sweden: a narrative approach.

Acculturation is defined as cultural changes and consequences of long contact between two different cultural groups. A total of 10 Kurdish men, aged from 24 to 60 years, were interviewed face-to-face to explore the acculturation pattern reported by them through their individual life stories during the whole migration process. The analysis was based on the narrative methodology.

The impact of ethnicity and self-reported health on psychological well-being: a comparative study of Kurdish-born and Swedish-born people.

Unlabelled: Although immigrants generally have poorer health and higher psychological distress than the native population, information on Kurdish immigrants' psychological well-being is limited. The aims of the study were to examine the association between ethnicity and poor psychological well-being, and to assess the relationships between socio-demographic characteristics, self-reported health, somatic pain, gastrointestinal complaints and poor psychological well-being.

Methods: Immigrants with self-reported Kurdish ethnicity (men, n=111; women, n=86) in Sweden from the national sample of immigrants aged 27-60 and 1407 Swedes (1996) were studied.

Sickness absence poses a threat to the Swedish Welfare State: a cross-sectional study of sickness absence and self-reported illness.

Background: The increasing cost of public social sickness insurance poses a serious economic threat to the Swedish welfare state. In recent years, expenditures for social insurance in general, as well as social sickness insurance in particular, have risen steeply in Sweden. This cross-sectional study analyzed the association between sickness absence (SA) and self-reported reduced working capacity due to a longstanding illness (>3 months), as well between SA and a number of other health problems.