Course of post-traumatic stress disorder and health care utilisation among resettled refugees in the Netherlands

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Miranda Olff¹  Marie-Louise Essink-Bot²  Majda Lamkaddem²  Karien Stronks²  Annette AM Gerritsen³  Walter D Devillé⁴ 

[1] Center for Psychological Trauma, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands & Arq Psychotrauma Expert Group, Diemen, The Netherlands;Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;Epi Results, Louis Trichardt, South Africa;Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), Utrecht, The Netherlands;Medical Anthropology and Sociology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;Pharos, Utrecht, The Netherlands;

关键词: Mental Health Care;    Traumatic Event;    Ptsd Symptom;    Asylum Seeker;    Residence Permit;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-244X-14-90

 received in 2013-06-18, accepted in 2014-03-14,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a major health problem among refugees worldwide. After resettlement, the prevalence of PTSD remains high despite the fact that various PTSD treatments are known to be effective.MethodsWe examined the course of PTSD and the role of mental health care utilisation at a 7-year interval (2003–2010) among a cohort of refugees from Iran, Afghanistan, and Somalia after resettlement in the Netherlands.ResultsThe unchanged high prevalence of PTSD (16.3% in 2003 and 15.2% in 2010) was attributable in part to late onset of PTSD symptoms (half of the respondents with PTSD at T2 were new cases for whom PTSD developed after 2003). The second reason concerned the low use of mental health care services at T1. Whereas the multivariate analyses showed the effectiveness of mental health care, only 21% of respondents with PTSD at T1 had had contact with a mental health care provider at that time. Use of mental health care during the first wave increased the odds of improvement in PTSD symptoms between both measurements (OR 7.58, 95% CI 1.01; 56.85).ConclusionsThe findings of this study suggest there are two possible explanations for the persistently high prevalence of PTSD among refugees. One is the late onset of PTSD and the other is the low utilisation of mental health care. Health care professionals should be aware of these issues, especially given the effectiveness of mental health care for this condition.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Lamkaddem et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014