37 Health, use of healthcare services and school belonging among Syrian refugee children resettled in Norway: a cross-sectional study

Abstract PTH 3: Mental Health and Refugees 1, B307 (FCSH), September 3, 2025, 17:00 - 17:54 Aim Children account for more than 40 percent of all forcibly displaced people, yet investigations into the health and wellbeing of refugee children are scarce. We aim to explore health, use of healthcare services and school belonging among Syrian refugee children four years after resettlement in Norway. Methods Observational study using cross-sectional survey data. In 2022 we recruited adolescents aged 12-17 years living in households where at least one parent/guardian participated in the longitudinal CHART/Integration for Health study. We assessed Self-Rated Health (SRH), somatic health (pain and gastrointestinal symptoms), mental health (Hopkins Symptom Checklist 10 (HSCL-10) and healthcare service encounters. School belonging was explored by asking respondents to rate statements on a 4-point Likert scale. We created a 0-1 score with higher score indicating increased school belonging. Results In total, 41 adolescents participated. The median age was 14 (IQR 13-16), 59% were males, and 88% attended school. SRH was reported to be “very good” by 29 (71%). The most frequent complaints were headache (6 (15%) “once a month” and 6 (15%) “once a week or more”), abdominal pain and nausea (each 9 (22%) “sometimes”/ “often” last 12 months) and 18 (44%) had more than one somatic symptom. In total 8 (20%) scored above a 1.6 HSCL-10 threshold indicating poor mental health. Regarding health service use, 30 (73%) had visited a general practitioner during the last year. The median school belonging score was 0.56 (IQR 0.38-0.75). Conclusions Most Syrian refugee children resettled in Norway report good self-rated health, but about one fifth struggle with somatic symptoms or poor mental health and nearly three-quarters have accessed primary health care services in the past year. The low sense of school belonging suggests that targeted interventions within the educational environment fostering a supportive and inclusive atmosphere may alleviate both somatic and mental health challenges.