40
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Syrian refugees in Greece: experience with violence, mental health status, and access to information during the journey and while in Greece

      research-article

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Background

          Since 2015, Europe has been facing an unprecedented arrival of refugees and migrants: more than one million people entered via land and sea routes. During their travels, refugees and migrants often face harsh conditions, forced detention, and violence in transit countries. However, there is a lack of epidemiological quantitative evidence on their experiences and the mental health problems they face during their displacement. We aimed to document the types of violence experienced by migrants and refugees during their journey and while settled in Greece, and to measure the prevalence of anxiety disorders and access to legal information and procedures.

          Methods

          We conducted a cross-sectional population-based quantitative survey combined with an explanatory qualitative study in eight sites (representing the range of settlements) in Greece during winter 2016/17. The survey consisted of a structured questionnaire on experience of violence and an interviewer-administered anxiety disorder screening tool (Refugee Health Screener).

          Results

          In total, 1293 refugees were included, of whom 728 were Syrians (41.3% females) of median age 18 years (interquartile range 7–30). Depending on the site, between 31% and 77.5% reported having experienced at least one violent event in Syria, 24.8–57.5% during the journey to Greece, and 5–8% in their Greek settlement. Over 75% (up to 92%) of respondents ≥15 years screened positive for anxiety disorder, which warranted referral for mental health evaluation, which was only accepted by 69–82% of participants. Access to legal information and assistance about asylum procedures were considered poor to non-existent for the majority, and the uncertainty of their status exacerbated their anxiety.

          Conclusions

          This survey, conducted during a mass refugee crisis in a European Community country, provides important data on experiences in different refugee settings and reports the high levels of violence experienced by Syrian refugees during their journeys, the high prevalence of anxiety disorders, and the shortcomings of the international protective response.

          Related collections

          Most cited references8

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of Syrians affected by armed conflict.

          This paper is based on a report commissioned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which aims to provide information on cultural aspects of mental health and psychosocial wellbeing relevant to care and support for Syrians affected by the crisis. This paper aims to inform mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) staff of the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing issues facing Syrians who are internally displaced and Syrian refugees.
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Impact of a long asylum procedure on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in Iraqi asylum seekers in The Netherlands.

            Clinically, a long asylum procedure seems to be associated with psychiatric disorders. However, data on this issue are lacking. In a national community-based study, using random sampling, we compared two groups of Iraqi asylum seekers, who had resided less than 6 months (N = 143) and more than 2 years (N= 151), respectively, in The Netherlands. Respondents were interviewed with fully structured, culturally validated, translated questionnaires. Psychiatric (DSM-IV) disorders were measured with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview 2.1 and evaluated in relation with premigration and postmigration adverse life events. Overall prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 42% in the first group and 66.2% in the second. The prevalence rates of anxiety, depressive, and somatoform disorders were significantly higher in the second group. Posttraumatic stress disorder was high in both groups but did not differ (p > .05). On logistic regression of all relevant risk factors, a long asylum procedure showed an odds ratio of 2.16 (confidence interval = 1.15-4.08) for psychopathology. The conclusion is that, indeed, the duration of the asylum procedure is an important risk factor for psychiatric problems. Both politicians and mental health workers should take note of this finding.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: not found

              The Refugee Health Screener-15 (RHS-15): development and validation of an instrument for anxiety, depression, and PTSD in refugees.

              Screening for emotional distress in newly arrived refugees is not a standard practice due to multiple barriers, one being the absence of a valid screening instrument for multiple refugee populations. The Refugee Health Screener-15 (RHS-15) was empirically developed to be a valid, efficient and effective screener for common mental disorders in refugees.
                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Contributors
                +33(0)556135967 , jihane.ben-farhat@epicentre.msf.org
                Journal
                BMC Med
                BMC Med
                BMC Medicine
                BioMed Central (London )
                1741-7015
                13 March 2018
                13 March 2018
                2018
                : 16
                : 40
                Affiliations
                [1 ]ISNI 0000 0004 0643 8660, GRID grid.452373.4, Epicentre, ; Paris, France
                [2 ]ISNI 0000 0004 0425 469X, GRID grid.8991.9, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, ; London, UK
                [3 ]Médecins Sans Frontières Greece, Athens, Greece
                [4 ]ISNI 0000 0004 0643 8660, GRID grid.452373.4, Médecins Sans Frontières France, ; Paris, France
                Article
                1028
                10.1186/s12916-018-1028-4
                5848526
                29530041
                80c6e39f-df0f-4f91-ad47-5a806e4f477c
                © The Author(s). 2018

                Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

                History
                : 15 September 2017
                : 16 February 2018
                Categories
                Research Article
                Custom metadata
                © The Author(s) 2018

                Medicine
                refugees,migrants,europe,greece,syria,mental health,violence,journey,access
                Medicine
                refugees, migrants, europe, greece, syria, mental health, violence, journey, access

                Comments

                Comment on this article