Secondary psychotic features in refugees diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder: a retrospective cohort study

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Mette Nygaard¹  Charlotte Sonne¹  Jessica Carlsson¹ 

[1] Competence Centre for Transcultural Psychiatry, Mental Health Centre Ballerup, Maglevænget 2, 2750, Ballerup, Denmark;

关键词: Complex PTSD;    Psychotic symptoms;    PTSD;    PTSD-SP;    Refugees;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-016-1166-1

 received in 2015-09-07, accepted in 2016-12-09,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundA substantial amount of refugees (10–30%) suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In Denmark there are different facilities specialised in psychiatric treatment of trauma-affected refugees. A previously published case report from such a facility in Denmark shows that some patients suffer from secondary psychotic symptoms alongside their PTSD.The aim of this study was to illustrate the characteristics and estimate the prevalence of psychotic features in a clinical population of trauma-affected refugees with PTSD.MethodsPsychiatric records from 220 consecutive patients at Competence Centre for Transcultural Psychiatry (CTP) were examined, and all the PTSD patients were divided into two groups; one group with secondary psychotic features (PTSD-SP group) and one without (PTSD group). A categorisation and description of the secondary psychotic features was undertaken.ResultsOne hundred eighty-one patients were diagnosed with PTSD among which psychotic symptoms were identified in 74 (40.9, 95% CI 33.7–48.1%). The majority of symptoms identified were auditory hallucinations (66.2%) and persecutory delusions (50.0%). There were significantly more patients diagnosed with enduring personality change after catastrophic experience in the PTSD-SP group than in the PTSD group (P = 0.009). Furthermore the PTSD-SP group included significantly more patients exposed to torture (P = 0.001) and imprisonment (P = 0.005).ConclusionThis study provides an estimation of PTSD-SP prevalence in a clinical refugee population with PTSD. The study points to the difficulties distinguishing psychotic features from flashbacks and the authors call for attention to psychotic features in PTSD patients in order to improve documentation and understanding of the disorder.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017