https://doi.org/10.4081/reumatismo.2024.1547

Rheumatic diseases in migrant patients resident in Tuscany: epidemiological data analysis and single-center experience

Vol. 76 No. 1 (2024)
Submitted: 14 January 2023
Accepted: 30 November 2023
Published: 22 March 2024
Migrant patients, rheumatologic diseases, epidemiology, Tuscany
Abstract Views: 597
PDF: 347
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

L. Cometi
lauracometi@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7710-5025
Division of Rheumatology, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, AOU Careggi, Florence, Italy.
P. Francesconi
Regional Health Authority, Florence, Italy.
B. Bellini
Regional Health Authority, Florence, Italy.
L. Turco
Regional Health Authority, Florence, Italy.
F. Voller
Regional Health Authority, Florence, Italy.
F. Nacci
Division of Rheumatology, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, AOU Careggi, Florence, Italy.
S. Bellando-Randone
Division of Rheumatology, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, AOU Careggi, Florence, Italy.
M. Matucci-Cerinic
Division of Rheumatology, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, AOU Careggi, Florence; Unit of Immunology, Rheumatology, Allergy and Rare Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy.
S. Guiducci
Division of Rheumatology, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, AOU Careggi, Florence, Italy.

Objective. In the last decades, the number of foreigners in Tuscany has considerably increased with a multiethnic distribution. We reviewed the main rheumatic diseases in the foreign population resident in Tuscany and also reported the experience at the Rheumatology Division of the University Hospital of Careggi, Florence, in order to identify the areas of origin of these patients and the main rheumatic diseases observed in them.

Methods. The collaboration with the Tuscan Region provided data about foreign patients residing in Tuscany on January 1, 2021 (country of origin, chronic diseases). Moreover, we conducted a retrospective review of the clinical charts of our Rheumatologic Division from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2020.

Results. In Tuscany, on January 1, 2021, there were 61,373 patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases, and 3994 of them (6.51%) were foreigners. Most patients were born in Europe (39.03%), followed by the Balkans (15%), South America (11.27%), and North Africa (10.31%). Inflammatory joint diseases, Sjögren syndrome, and systemic lupus erythematosus were the most frequent diseases. In the period 2019-2020, 511 foreign patients visited our Rheumatology Division and mainly originated from the Balkans (34.64%), South America (18%), and European countries (16.44%). In these patients, chronic inflammatory joint diseases and connective tissue diseases (systemic sclerosis, Sjögren syndrome, and systemic lupus erythematosus) were the most prevalent diseases.

Conclusions. This study provides a picture of the rheumatic diseases affecting foreign patients residing in Tuscany that are in agreement with the epidemiological data previously provided.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC
Shapira Y, Agmon-Levin N, Shoenfeld Y. Geoepidemiology of autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Nat Rev Rheumatol 2010; 6: 468-76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2010.86
Chopra A, Abdel-Nasser A. Epidemiology of rheumatic musculoskeletal disorders in the developing world. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol 2008; 22: 583-604. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.berh.2008.07.001
Adelowo O, Mody GM, Tikly M, Oyoo O, Slimani S. Rheumatic diseases in Africa. Nat Rev Rheumatol 2021; 17: 363-74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41584-021-00603-4
Gabriel SE, Michaud K. Epidemiological studies in incidence, prevalence, mortality, and comorbidity of the rheumatic diseases. Arthritis Res Ther 2009; 11: 229. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/ar2669
Sangha O. Epidemiology of rheumatic diseases. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2000; 39: 3-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/39.suppl_2.3
Chifflot H, Fautrel B, Sordet C, Chatelus E, Sibilia J. Incidence and prevalence of systemic sclerosis: a systematic literature review. Semin Arthritis Rheum 2008; 37: 223-35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semarthrit.2007.05.003
ARS Toscana. Immigrati e salute in Toscana; 2011. Available from: https://www.ars.toscana.it/files/pubblicazioni/Volumi/2011/58_immigrati.pdf.
Khairallah M, Accorinti M, Muccioli C, Kahloun R, Kempen JH. Epidemiology of Behçet disease. Ocul Immunol Inflamm 2012; 20: 324-35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3109/09273948.2012.723112
Watts RA, Hatemi G, Burns JC, Mohammad AJ. Global epidemiology of vasculitis. Nat Rev Rheumatol 2022; 18: 22-34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41584-021-00718-8

How to Cite

Cometi, L., Francesconi, P., Bellini, B., Turco, L., Voller, F., Nacci, F., … Guiducci, S. (2024). Rheumatic diseases in migrant patients resident in Tuscany: epidemiological data analysis and single-center experience. Reumatismo, 76(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/reumatismo.2024.1547
Copyright (c) 2024 the Author(s) Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.

Similar Articles

<< < 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.