Longitudinal health survey of women from Venezuela in Colombia (ELSA-VENCOL): first report

BackgroundColombia is currently the worlds main recipient country for Venezuelan migrants, and women represent a high proportion of them. This article presents the first report of a cohort of Venezuelan migrant women entering Colombia through Cucuta and its metropolitan area (the main land entry point to this country). The study aimed to describe the health status and access to healthcare services among Venezuelan migrant women in Colombia with irregular migration status, and to analyze changes in those conditions at a one-month follow-up. MethodsA longitudinal cohort study of Venezuelan migrant women, 18 to 45 years, who entered Colombia with an irregular migration status, was carried out in 2021. Study participants were recruited in temporary shelters, transit points, and migrant settlements in Cucuta and the metropolitan area. At baseline, we administered a structured questionnaire including sociodemographic characteristics, migration history, health history, access to health services, sexual and reproductive health, practice of early detection of cervical cancer and breast cancer, food insecurity, and depressive symptoms. The women were again contacted by phone one month later, between March and July 2021, and a second questionnaire was applied. ResultsA total of 2,298 women were included in the baseline measurement and 56.4% could be contacted again at the one-month follow-up. A significant increase was found in the percentage of women who had a health problem during the past month (from 23.1% to 31.4%; p<0.01); as well as in the share who reported moderate, severe, or extreme difficulty working or performing daily chores (from 5.5% to 11.0%; p= 0.03) and who rated their health as fair (from 13.0% to 31.2%; p<0.01). Meanwhile, the percentage of women with depressive symptoms decreased from 80.5% to 71.2% (p<0.01). ConclusionThis report is a starting point for the longitudinal follow-up of the cohort, which will allow us to better understand how the health status of Venezuelan women changes during the migration flow in Colombia.