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Over the past 10 years Spain has become an important immigrant receiver country as the proximity with Africa and the cultural facilities with Latino-American countries have made of Spain a very attractive place to settle down for immigrants. From 1st January 2007 to 31st December 2007, all the pediatric patients visits (0-14 years old) seen in the units of the Dermatology Section of the University General Hospital of Alicante (Spain) were prospectively recorded. During the study period 3,108 visits were recorded. Of these, 447 (14.3 %) were generated by immigrant children, 243 (54.3 %) being episodes requested by 167 Latin American patients. Latin children consulted mainly in the outpatient clinic, like Spanish children. The most frequent type of dermatoses in these patients was eczema/atopic dermatitis. Infectious dermatitis showed no differences between them and Spaniards, but scabies was six times more frequent in the formers.

Objective: To study the lifestyle, use of health services, self-perceived health status and health services evaluations of immigrants from Paraguay and Bolivia in the city of Elche, and to establish and/or adapt prevention health services strategies to the needs of this population., Methods: A cross-sectional study, using a health questionnaire, was conducted between November 2009 and April 2010, using a convenience sample selected from the Paraguay and Bolivia Citizens Association., Results: A total of 49 Paraguayans and 35 Bolivians over 15 years old were interviewed of whom 42 (50%) were male; 33% of respondents did not perform any physical activity, and 14.3% were smokers (males [23.8%] vs female [4.8%], P=.03). The assessment of health was good or very good in 59.5% (Paraguayans [71.4%] vs Bolivians [42.9%]), P=.02). The use of health services was 85.4% (males [75%] vs women [95.2%], P=02) and 51% went to an emergency department. Consultation with a dentist was reported in 43.9% (Paraguayans [56.2%] vs Bolivians [26.5%], P=.007); 65.9% considered the Spanish public health system as being excellent, very good or good., Conclusion: The lifestyle, the use of private resources and the assessment of health status are different in both groups studied. The assessment of the Spanish public health system was good in both. Strategies are needed to improve lifestyle, counselling for smoking cessation, alcohol use and control of dyslipidaemia., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier España, S.L. y SEMERGEN. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To determine the utilization rate of a dermatology service among the immigrant population and compare this rate with that among the autochthonous population., Methods: Over a 1-year period, data on all patients attended in the Dermatology Service of Health Department 19 in the autonomous community of Valencia were prospectively collected., Results: Of 39,160 consultations, 1,625 were made by immigrants (4.1%). Attendance for dermatologic emergencies was greater in immigrants than in the autochthonous population (7.7% vs 3.0%; p<0.001), while surgical activity was lower in immigrants than in Spanish-born patients (2.6% vs 5%; p<0.001). Demand for consultation in the immigrant population was 5.7 visits per 100 immigrants, lower than that in the autochthonous population (16.2). The standardized rate ratio was 0.34. North Africans (5.6 per 100 immigrants), East Europeans (4.8), sub-Saharan Africans (5.3) and Asians (4.2) consulted less than Latin Americans (8.5; p<0.001)., Conclusions: Demand was lower in the immigrant than in the autochthonous population, and the utilization pattern differed according to country.