ArticleBMC psychiatry2018
Development and validation of a mental health screening tool for asylum-seekers and refugees: the STAR-MH.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- The prevalence of mental illness in refugees and asylum seekers: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2020Pooled it
- A Digital Tool for Culturally Responsive Reflection and Case Conceptualization in First-Line Services to Support Children With a Refugee Background: Development and Usability Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Online Tiered Screening for Mental Health Problems Among Refugees in Sweden: Validation Study.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- Mental health screening in unaccompanied asylum-seeking children: screening tool selection and feasibility in the UK National Health Service.Primary health care research & development · 2025Article
- To screen or not to screen: Exploring and addressing effective screening processes for trauma among forced migrants.Journal of migration and health · 2023Article
- Diagnostic test accuracy of screening tools for post-traumatic stress disorder among refugees and asylum seekers: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of migration and health · 2023Article
- Age and environmental factors predict psychological symptoms in adolescent refugees during the initial post-resettlement phase.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2022Article
- Mental Health Screening Approaches for Resettling Refugees and Asylum Seekers: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Prevalence of mental disorders in refugees and asylum seekers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2022Article
- Prolonged Grief Disorder Among Refugees in Psychological Treatment-Association With Self-Efficacy and Emotion Regulation.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is no screening tool for major depressive disorder (MDD) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in asylum-seekers or refugees (ASR) that can be readily administered by non-mental health workers. Hence, we aimed to develop a brief, sensitive and rapidly administrable tool for non-mental health workers to screen for MDD and PTSD in ASR.
methodsThe screening tool was developed from an extant dataset (n = 121) of multiply screened ASR and tested prospectively (N = 192) against the M.I.N.I. (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview) structured psychiatric interview. Rasch, Differential Item Functioning and ROC analyses evaluated the psychometric properties and tool utility.
resultsA 9-item tool with a median administration time of six minutes was generated, comprising two 'immediate screen-in' items, and a 7-item scale. The prevalence of PTSD &/or MDD using the M.I.N.I. was 32%, whilst 99% of other diagnosed mental disorders were comorbid with one or both of these. Using a cut-score of ≥2, the tool provided a sensitivity of 0.93, specificity of 0.75 and predictive accuracy of 80.7%.
conclusionsA brief sensitive screening tool with robust psychometric properties that was easy to administer at the agency of first presentation was developed to facilitate mental health referrals for asylum-seekers and new refugees.
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