Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 18, Issue 1, 2016, Pages 263-269

History of Persecution and Health Outcomes Among U.S. Refugees (Article)

Yun K.* , Mohamad Z. , Kiss L. , Annamalai A. , Zimmerman C.
  • a PolicyLab, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States
  • b PolicyLab, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States, Healthcare Analytics Unit, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States
  • c Gender, Violence and Health Centre, Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
  • d Departments of Internal Medicine and Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
  • e Gender, Violence and Health Centre, Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom

Abstract

Our goal was to describe the forms of persecution reported by adult refugees in the U.S. and the relationships between persecution and health status among this population. Data were derived from the 2003 New Immigrant Survey, a representative sample of new U.S. lawful permanent residents. Major depression, impairment in daily activities due to pain, poor self-reported health, and declining health were described for refugees who had and had not reported persecution prior to arrival in the U.S. Health status was also examined for refugees who reported different forms of persecution. Half of refugees (46.7 %) in this sample reported that they or an immediate family member had been persecuted. One in three persecuted refugees (31.8 %) reported both incarceration and physical punishment. Major depression, pain-related impairment, poor health, and declining health were twice as common among persecuted refugees than among non persecuted refugees. Notably, despite these adverse experiences the majority of persecuted refugees did not report poor health outcomes. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

emigrants and immigrants pain Ethnic conflict Depression human rights Refugees violence

Index Keywords

refugee mental health human Refugees middle aged violence statistics and numerical data pain health status Aged ethnology United States Young Adult Humans psychology Adolescent male female adult Depressive Disorder, Major major depression
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84954383395&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-015-0176-2&partnerID=40&md5=144e0fde9d1461cb1174b7d08e680fab
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-015-0176-2
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 5
Original Language: English