Abstract
BackgroundThe length of stay in asylum centres is generally mentioned as a possible health risk to asylum seekers. Medical staff working with asylum seekers has claimed that long lengths of stay in asylum centres might cause or aggravate mental disorders. We used records from a large, multiethnic group of asylum seekers to study if the incidence of mental disorders increased with length of stay.MethodsThe study population was asylum seekers in Danish asylum centres run by the Danish Red Cross. General medical care was provided by Red Cross staff who could refer selected cases to medical specialists. If an asylum seeker needed more than three specialist consultations for mental illness or five consultations for physical illness the referrals had to be approved by The Danish Immigration Service. Between July 2001 – December 2002 the Red Cross prospectively registered health related data on all new applications (n = 4516) to the Immigration Service regarding referrals to medical specialists. We used these records to analyse the association between length of stay in the asylum centres and overall rate of referral for mental disorders. Data was analysed using weighted linear regression.ResultsWe found that referrals for mental disorders increased with length of stay in asylum centres in a large, multiethnic population of asylum seekers. The association was found in all the categories of psychiatric illness studied and for a majority of the nationality groups studied.ConclusionLength of stay in asylum centres was associated with an increase in referrals for mental disorders in a large, multiethnic group of asylum seekers. The present study supports the view that prolonged length of stay in an asylum centre is a risk factor for mental health. The risk of psychiatric illness among asylum seekers should be addressed by political and humanitarian means, giving prevention of illness the highest priority.
Highlights
The length of stay in asylum centres is generally mentioned as a possible health risk to asylum seekers
We found that referrals for mental disorders increased with length of stay in asylum centres in a large, multiethnic population of asylum seekers
The association was found in all the categories of psychiatric illness studied and for a majority of the nationality groups studied
Summary
The length of stay in asylum centres is generally mentioned as a possible health risk to asylum seekers. We used records from a large, multiethnic group of asylum seekers to study if the incidence of mental disorders increased with length of stay. A study from Denmark using data from 1986–1988 showed an increase in psychiatric illness with length of stay among asylum seekers [1]. No recent study has focused on the effects of length of stay on the mental health on a large, multiethnic group of asylum seekers. The reasons for this are probably that the available information is often not suited for epidemiological analysis and that there are difficulties in establishing reference groups.
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