Post-covid syndrome is more common in Dutch people with a migration background, according to research by the Amsterdam UMC. The risk is even 50 percent higher for Turkish Dutch people than for Dutch people without a migration background.
During the corona pandemic, people with a migration background already had a greater chance of becoming infected, but also of ending up in intensive care or dying.
According to Charles Agyemang, Professor of Migration and Health, this is partly due to inequality of opportunity. For example, according to him, people with a migration background have on average less well-paid work, which often requires them to be on location.
As a result, someone who falls ill in such a situation is less likely to stay at home. “Because there must also be bread on the table,” says Agyemang.
Those who wait longer to go to the doctor with a serious corona infection have a greater chance of ending up in the IC. And anyone who has been lying there runs a greater risk of developing post-covid syndrome, the professor explains.
‘Migrant communities are not aware of post-covid syndrome’
According to Agyemang, many people with long-term complaints suffer in silence, “because people in these migrant communities are not aware of the existence of the condition”.
He calls awareness of the post-covid syndrome and better access to healthcare for these groups “essential to address these health inequalities”.
To investigate the long-term consequences of corona for patients from different backgrounds, Amsterdam UMC collaborated with the universities in Copenhagen and Stockholm. The researchers looked at data from nearly 1,890 people, including Hindustani-Surinamese, Creole-Surinamese, Moroccan and Turkish patients.
