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. 2015 Apr 9;9:12. doi: 10.1186/s13031-014-0029-y

Table 2.

Non-communicable diseases reported by older refugees from Syria

Non-communicable disease Syrians (n = 167) Palestinians (n = 43) p-value *
Point estimate 95% CI Point estimate 95% CI
Hypertension 53% 46–61% 86% 72–94% <0.001
Diabetes mellitus 38% 55–69% 81% 66–91% <0.001
Heart diseasea 28% 22–36% 40% 26–55% 0.148
High cholesterol 22% 16–29% 42% 28–58% 0.007
Arthritis, injury, or back pain 31% 24–38% 7% 2–20% 0.002
Eye disease (not eyeglasses)b 16% 11–22% 28% 16–44% 0.061
Chronic pain 15% 10–21% 9% 3–23% 0.337
Lung diseasec 11% 7–17% 44% 30–60% <0.001
Digestive tract diseased 9% 5–14% 23% 13–39% 0.010
Neurologic diseasee 5% 2–9% 12% 5–26% 0.097
Renal diseasef 6% 3–11% 7% 2–20% 0.810

*Chi-squared test, statistical significance if p-value of <0.05.

aHeart disease includes coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, heart failure, and arrhythmia.

bEye disease includes retinal cataracts, glaucoma, retinal disease, and eye injuries but not eyeglasses.

cLung disease includes asthma, COPD, chronic cough, and interstitial lung disease.

dDigestive tract disease includes diseases of the esophagus, stomach, bowel, rectum, liver, gallbladder and pancreas.

eNeurologic disease includes stroke, epilepsy, headache, and vertigo.

fRenal disease includes renal failure, nephrolithiasis, or other disease of the urinary tract.