Aims and method: To examine treatment response in traumatised refugees, we compared routine outcome monitoring data (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire) of two refugee populations with those of individuals experiencing profession-related trauma who were treated at a specialised psychotrauma institute. Results: Asylum seekers/temporary refugees (n = 21) and resettled refugees (n = 169) showed significantly lower post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom reduction between intake and 1 year after intake than did a comparison group of non-refugees (n = 37), but the interaction effect was clinically small (partial η2 = 0.03). Refugees who had more severe symptoms at intake showed significantly greater symptom reduction after 1 year. Clinical implications: Therapists and refugee patients should have realistic expectations about response to treatment as usual. Additional treatment focusing on improving quality of life may be needed for refugees whose PTSD symptom severity remains high. At the same time, novel approaches may be developed to boost treatment response in refugee patients with low responsiveness. © 2015 The Authors.

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resettled refugee temporary refugee Netherlands treatment response refugee comparative effectiveness human controlled study comparative study exposure therapy narrative exposure therapy asylum seeker quality of life evidence based practice Treatment Outcome male female patient referral Harvard Trauma Questionnaire questionnaire clinical article symptom Article major clinical study adult posttraumatic stress disorder outcome assessment disease severity expectation eye movement desensitization and reprocessing psychotrauma