Our objective was to test the assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and associated symptoms in a multicultural immigrant/refugee population at a psychiatric out-patient clinic. The pilot study included volunteer patients who were randomly assigned to an intervention group (N = 33), who received SCID diagnosis and a battery of Life event questionnaires, and a referent group (N = 30), who received the standard diagnostic program. All were followed-up for 1 year. Forty percent of the intervention group, but none in the referent group,were judged to have PTSD. In the intervention group, positive significant correlations were found between HTQ and HSCL-25 and SCID, Axis I PTSD. Experience of trauma influenced the ill-health in the psychometric indices, and the psychometric indices correlated negatively with present and optimal functioning. A targeted trauma approach toward multicultural psychiatric patients using a multidisciplinary team and validated psychometric tools provided sensitive and accurate diagnostic information for this group.

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Psychiatric Department, Hospital refugee controlled clinical trial clinical trial human Life Change Events Refugees middle aged life event controlled study randomized controlled trial Sweden Humans male female Psychiatric Status Rating Scales questionnaire Ambulatory Care Facilities clinical article Article adult posttraumatic stress disorder Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic Emigration and Immigration Patient Care Team Pilot Projects Data Collection