A Central Clearing Clinic to Provide Mental Health Services for Refugees in Germany

Frontiers in Public Health

article

Malek Bajbouj¹  Isabella Heuser¹  Armin Hoyer²  Ulrike Kluge²  Marion Aichberger²  Dimitris Repantis¹  Stefanie Schreiter²  Joachim Seybold³  Igor Sutej²  Patricia Panneck²  Sibylle-Maria Winter⁴  Carlos Ajami¹  Jihad Alabdullah¹  Max Benedikt Burger¹  Anja Haberlandner⁴  Eric Hahn¹  Andreas Heinz² 

[1] Department of Psychiatry, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin;Department of Psychiatry, Campus Mitte, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin;Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Mitte;Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Campus Virchow Klinikum, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

关键词: refugees;    mental health;    posttraumatic stress disorder;    affective disorder;    stress;    migration health;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2021.635474

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Objective: To determine migration related distress pattern in refugees and feasibility of a de novo established, central low-threshold outpatient clinic serving more than 80,000 newly arrived refugees in the metropole of Berlin. Methods: In an observational cohort study the relative prevalence of major psychiatric disorders by age, place of living within berlin, language and region of origin were assessed in a refugee cohort from 63 nationalities speaking 36 languages. Findings: Within 18 months, a total of 3,096 cases with a mean age of 29.7 years (11.7) have been referred from all 12 districts and 165 of 182 subdistricts of Berlin to the CCC. 33.7% of the patients were female. The three most frequent diagnoses were unipolar depression (40.4%), posttraumatic stress disorder (24.3%), and adjustment disorder (19.6%). Conclusion: The present data gives insight into the distribution of mental disorders in a large sample of refugees and provides evidence that a CCC is an effective service to quickly and broadly provide psychiatric consultations and thus to overcome classical barriers refugees usually experience in the host communities. In Berlin, Germany, and Europe treatment resources for this population should focus on stress and trauma related disorders.

【 授权许可】

CC BY