Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 17, Issue 4, 2015, Pages 1231-1239

A Systematic Review of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Depression Amongst Iraqi Refugees Located in Western Countries (Article)

Slewa-Younan S. , Uribe Guajardo M.G.* , Heriseanu A. , Hasan T.
  • a Mental Health, School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1791, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
  • b Mental Health, School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1791, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
  • c Mental Health, School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1791, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
  • d Mental Health, School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1791, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia, Blacktown Hospital, NSW Health Western Sydney Local Health District, Blacktown Road, Blacktown, NSW 2148, Australia

Abstract

A systematic review of literature reporting prevalence rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression amongst community samples of resettled Iraqi refugees was undertaken. A search of the electronic databases of Medline, PsychINFO, CINAHL, PILOTS, Scopus, and Cochrane, up to November 2013 was conducted. Following the application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, eight empirical papers were included in the review and analysis. Specifically, six studies reported on PTSD prevalence (total n = 1,912), which ranged from 8 to 37.2 % and seven studies reported on rates of depression (total n = 1,647) noted to be 28.3 to 75 %. The overall interobserver agreement for the methodological quality assessment was good to excellent with a Kappa coefficient of 0.64. Iraqi refugees continue to represent one of the largest groups being resettled worldwide. This systematic review indicates that prevalence of PTSD and depression is high and should be taken into consideration when developing mental health early intervention and treatment services. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

Western countries Iraqi refugees Depression PTSD

Index Keywords

statistics and numerical data Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic Iraq depression refugee ethnology prevalence human Humans Refugees psychology
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84937524030&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-014-0046-3&partnerID=40&md5=0b874db4ba600bfde6b504fe2e12708b
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-014-0046-3
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 38
Original Language: English