Long-term mental health of war-refugees: a systematic literature review

There are several million war-refugees worldwide, majority of whom stay in the recipient countries for years. However, little is known about their long-term mental health. This review aimed to assess prevalence of mental disorders and to identify their correlates among long-settled war-refugees.

We conducted a systematic review of studies that assessed current prevalence and/or factors associated with depression and anxiety disorders in adult war-refugees 5 years or longer after displacement. We searched Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and PILOTS from their inception to October 2014, searched reference lists, and contacted experts. Because of a high heterogeneity between studies, overall estimates of mental disorders were not discussed. Instead, prevalence rates were reviewed narratively and possible sources of heterogeneity between studies were investigated both by subgroup analysis and narratively. A descriptive analysis examined pre-migration and post-migration factors associated with mental disorders in this population.