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Published on: February 16, 2011
Mental disorders, disability and treatment gap in a protracted refugee setting
Augusto E Llosa1, Zeina Ghantous, Renato Souza
1Augusto E. Llosa, PhD, Epicentre, Paris, France; Zeina Ghantous, MPH, Médecins Sans Frontières, Geneva, Switzerland; Renato Souza, MD, Médecins Sans Frontières, Geneva, Switzerland, and Department and Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil; Fabio Forgione, MSc, Pierre Bastin, MD, Alison Jones, MSc, Annick Antierens, MD, Andrei Slavuckij, MD, Médecins Sans Frontières, Geneva, Switzerland; Rebecca. F. Grais, PhD, Epicentre, Paris, France.
Background:
Studies have shown high levels of distress and mental disorder among people living in refugee camps, yet none has confirmed diagnosis through clinical reappraisal.
Aims:
To estimate the prevalence of mental disorders, related disability and treatment gap in adult refugees living in the Burj el-Barajneh camp.
Method:
Randomly selected participants were screened by household representative (n = 748) and individual (n = 315) interviews; clinical reappraisal was performed on a subset (n = 194) of 326 selected participants. Weighted prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated.
Results:
The prevalence of current mental disorders was 19.4% (95% CI 12.6-26.2); depression was the most common diagnosis (8.3%, 95% CI 4.4-12.2) and multiple diagnoses were common (42%) among the 88 persons with mental disorder. Lifetime prevalence of psychosis was 3.3% (95% CI 1.0-5.5). Mental disorders were associated with moderate to severe dysfunction (odds ratio = 8.8, 95% CI 4.5-17.4). The treatment gap was 96% (95% CI 92-100).
Conclusions:
A range of mental disorders and associated disability are common in this long-term refugee setting. Combined with an important treatment gap, findings support the current consensus-based policy to prioritise availability of mental health treatment in refugee camps, especially for the most severe and disabling conditions.
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