PMID- 8968630
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 19970402
LR  - 20190705
IS  - 0007-1250 (Print)
IS  - 0007-1250 (Linking)
VI  - 169
IP  - 6
DP  - 1996 Dec
TI  - Mental disorder among refugees and the impact of persecution and exile: some 
      findings from an out-patient population.
PG  - 726-32
AB  - BACKGROUND: Refugees have long been considered at risk for mental disorder. We 
      sought to characterise this risk in an out-patient refugee sample by analysing 
      the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and dysfunction, and between 
      symptoms and the socio-demographic background and stressors specific to this 
      refugee sample. METHOD: A consecutive sample of 231 refugee patients referred to 
      the psychiatric out-patient unit at the Psychosocial Centre for Refugees, 
      University of Oslo, was examined with a semi-structured interview guide, Brief 
      Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Hopkins Symptom Check-List (HSCL-25) and a 
      check-list for post-traumatic symptoms (PTSS-10). Global Assessment of Function 
      (GAF) scores were obtained; and the data were analysed using nine predictor 
      variables. RESULTS: It was found that 46.6% of the patients had a post-traumatic 
      stress disorder according to the criteria for DSM-III-R as the main diagnosis, 
      while the mean GAF score for the patients was 57.3. Analysis of the GAF and BPRS 
      data did not reveal any predictor of psychotic behaviour. However, torture 
      emerged as an important predictor of emotional withdrawal/retardation. Also, age, 
      gender and no employment or education predicted for anxiety/depression, while 
      refugee status and no employment or school predicted for hostility/aggression. 
      CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm earlier findings that refugees constitute a 
      population at risk for mental disorder. Past traumatic stressors and current 
      existence in exile constitute independent risk factors. However, stressors other 
      than those discussed here appear to be important also, particularly with regard 
      to psychotic symptoms.
FAU - Lavik, N J
AU  - Lavik NJ
AD  - Psychosocial Centre for Refugees, University of Oslo, Norway.
FAU - Hauff, E
AU  - Hauff E
FAU - Skrondal, A
AU  - Skrondal A
FAU - Solberg, O
AU  - Solberg O
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - England
TA  - Br J Psychiatry
JT  - The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science
JID - 0342367
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Aggression/psychology
MH  - Ambulatory Care
MH  - Anxiety Disorders/diagnosis/epidemiology/psychology
MH  - Cross-Sectional Studies
MH  - Depressive Disorder/diagnosis/epidemiology/psychology
MH  - Female
MH  - Hostility
MH  - Humans
MH  - Incidence
MH  - Male
MH  - Mental Disorders/diagnosis/epidemiology/*psychology
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Referral and Consultation/statistics & numerical data
MH  - Refugees/*psychology/statistics & numerical data
MH  - Risk
MH  - *Social Alienation
MH  - Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/diagnosis/epidemiology/*psychology
MH  - Sweden/epidemiology
MH  - Torture/*psychology
EDAT- 1996/12/01 00:00
MHDA- 1996/12/01 00:01
CRDT- 1996/12/01 00:00
PHST- 1996/12/01 00:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 1996/12/01 00:01 [medline]
PHST- 1996/12/01 00:00 [entrez]
AID - S0007125000029214 [pii]
AID - 10.1192/bjp.169.6.726 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Br J Psychiatry. 1996 Dec;169(6):726-32. doi: 10.1192/bjp.169.6.726.