The number of international immigrants has increased both globally and in Finland. In 2008, almost 30,000 migrants came to Finland. Infectious diseases are health problems associated with immigrants and screening these from immigrants has been seen as a way to prevent them from spreading to the recipient population. At present there are no national guidelines for infectious diseases screening of all immigrant groups. The latest guidelines date back to 1993 covering only refugees and asylum seekers.

The aims of this study were to describe the current state of infectious disease screening from immigrants arriving in Finland and the findings of this screening. In addition the study aimed to define whether the current infectious disease screening has been useful from the health professionals' point of view and find suggestions given by these health care professionals on how to improve the current screening practises.

The study used a cross-sectional mixed mode (Web-based and mailed questionnaire) survey targeted to health professionals working in different primary health care facilities in different parts of Finland. The number of respondents was 121 and the response rate 69%. The respondents were public health nurses (n=92), medical doctors (n=16) and nurses (n=13). Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the results.

Immigration-related health examinations were done in all different workplaces. Immigration-related health examinations were most frequently done to adopted children, refugees, returnees and immigrants who have family ties to Finland. Problems with health examinations related to difficulties with language, excessive need of time, poor flow of information, different concepts of illnesses, illiteracy and lack of trust. Infectious diseases testing was most often done to refugees and asylum seekers. Most frequently tested infectious diseases were hepatitis B, HIV and tuberculosis. Most common finding was hepatitis B.

The respondents perceived immigrants' infectious diseases screening important both to the immigrants themselves and to the society. Several suggestions on how to improve screening practises were given, including formulating clear instructions, informing about justification of screening, providing training, centralising screening systems and improving flow of information. More systematic approach to immigrants' infectious diseases screening is needed. Nationwide instructions could be used to be used to balance the benefits, costs and harms of the screening. Informing and training about screening is also needed.

Asiasanat:Immigrant, infectious diseases, screening