Internationally Adopted and Migrant Children Had Important Health Issues Requiring Systematic Initial Screening at Arrival.

AIM: Internationally adopted and migrant children have similar profiles as they may have experienced many adversities before arrival in their new country. We sought to compare both groups at arrival, focusing on nutritional status, infections and vaccination status.

METHOD: A consultation unit at Necker Hospital is dedicated to the screening of internationally adopted and migrant children at arrival in France. The medical records of consultation of children under 12 years old between 2017 and 2021 were reviewed. We included in the migrant group those who left in search of a better life, including refugees and asylum seekers.

RESULTS

We included 404 children: 132 migrants mainly from Africa (73%), and 272 adoptees mainly from Asia (36%). Stunting was more frequent in adoptees (16% vs. 7%, p < 0.01). After adjusting for migrant versus adopted status, age, gender and region of origin, adoptees had significantly worse height-for-age and weight-for-age Z-scores and had more chronic viral infections (4% vs. 0%, p < 0.01). Immunity to tetanus and hepatitis B was high in both groups (89% and 75% of all children respectively) but immunity to measles was much lower.

CONCLUSION

Both groups had important health issues at arrival and should be considered to offer systematic initial screening and close follow-up.