Posttraumatic stress disorder and psychiatric co-morbidity: symptoms in a random sample of female Bosnian refugees

Eur Psychiatry. 2005 Mar;20(2):158-64. doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2004.12.001.

Abstract

Objectives: This study investigated psychological symptoms in Bosnian women 3-4 years after their arrival in Sweden.

Subjects and methods: A simple random sample of 163 Bosnian women aged 19-59 was drawn from the Swedish populations register in 1996. The control group consisted of 392 Swedish-born women. Data were collected in face-to-face interviews. The Hopkins Symptom Checklist 25 (HSCL-25) and the Posttraumatic Symptom Scale (PTSS-10) were used to measure psychological symptoms of depression, anxiety, psychological distress, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) for psychological symptoms after adjustment for age, country of birth, education, marital status, economic difficulties, social network, and feeling secure.

Results: The prevalence of symptoms of PTSD was 28.3% among the Bosnian women. Bosnian women had significantly higher risks of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress than Swedish-born women. For depression the odds ratio was 9.50 among Bosnian women.

Conclusion: Psychiatric community interventions need to target Bosnian refugee women. Awareness among health-care workers who encounter these women in a clinical setting should be improved.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina / ethnology
  • Comorbidity
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Logistic Models
  • Mental Disorders / diagnosis
  • Mental Disorders / ethnology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Prevalence
  • Social Support
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / diagnosis
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / ethnology*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Sweden / epidemiology