Burden of Disease in Refugee Patients with Diabetes on the Island of Lesvos-The Experience of a Frontline General Hospital.

Unlabelled: Diabetes mellitus is a non-communicable disease which poses a great burden on refugee populations, who are confronted with limited access to healthcare services and disruption of pre-existing pharmacological treatment.

Aims: We sought to evaluate the degree of hyperglycaemia in refugees with known or recently diagnosed diabetes, to assess cardiovascular comorbidities and diabetes complications, to review and provide available therapeutic options, and to compare, if possible, the situation in Lesvos with other locations hosting refugee populations, thus raising our awareness towards barriers to accessing healthcare and managing diabetes in these vulnerable populations and to propose follow-up strategies.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 69 refugee patients (68% of Afghan origin, 64% female) with diabetes mellitus (81% with type 2 diabetes), who were referred to the diabetes outpatient clinics of the General Hospital of Mytilene, Lesvos, Greece, between June 2019 and December 2020.