Are there differences in psychiatric contacts among refugee children compared with their native Danish peers? – A registry-based Danish cohort study

Abstract

A Barghadouch, M Kristiansen, SS Nielsen, E Montgomery, A Hjern, M Norredam Danish Research Centre for Migration, Ethnicity, and Health, Section for Health Services Research, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Denmark DIGNITY Danish Institute Against Torture, Copenhagen, Denmark Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS), Karolinska Institutet/Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Contact: amina.barghadouch@sund.ku.dk Background Studies show a high level of psychiatric morbidity among asylum-seeking children and resettled refugee children. However, most of these findings are based on small populations and do not compare with local-born children. Our aim was to study resettled refugee children’s contacts to psychiatric healthcare in comparison with their native Danish peers. Methods Our registry-based study cohort was obtained through the Danish Immigration Service. Refugees were included if they had obtained residence permission in Denmark between 1.1.1993 and 31.12.2010. We identified 25,122 refugees <18 years who were matched 1:6 on age and sex with 150,732 native 126 European Journal of Public Health, Vol. 23, Supplement 1, 2013