ArticlePloS one2020
Serious shortcomings in assessment and treatment of asylum seekers' mental health needs.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Adverse migration experiences, border community stress, and the mental health of asylum-seeking women in transit at the Mexico-U.S. border.SSM. Mental health · 2025Article
- Investigating factors influencing utilization of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy among unaccompanied young refugees: an exploratory analysis.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2025Article
- Article
- Reciprocal effects between post-migration risk factors for mental health and barriers to access to treatment among refugees and asylum seekers: what have we learnt?Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- [Determinants of asylum seekers' health and medical care in Germany].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2023Review
- Shared sorrow, shared costs: cost-effectiveness analysis of theBJPsych open · 2023Article
- Associations between physical and mental health and the utilization of ambulatory and emergency healthcare among asylum-seekers: results from a cross-sectional survey in Berlin, Germany.International journal for equity in health · 2023Article
- Emotions, perceived threat, prejudice, and attitudes towards helping Ukrainian, Syrian, and Somali asylum seekers.PloS one · 2023Article
- Health status of recently arrived asylum seekers in their host country: results of a cross-sectional observational study.BMC public health · 2022Observational
- Health Care for Refugees in Europe: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Sick and Tired-Sociodemographic and Psychosocial Characteristics of Asylum Seekers Awaiting an Appointment for Psychotherapy.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Observational
- Description of a Culture-Sensitive, Low-Threshold Psychoeducation Intervention for Asylum Seekers (Tea Garden).Clinical psychology in Europe · 2021Article
- Situation of Self-Reported Anxiety and Depression among Urban Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Thailand, 2019.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Article
- Refugee Mental Health, Global Health Policy, and the Syrian Crisis.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe prevalence of psychological complaints is known to be very high in populations of asylum seekers. Despite this, data on the health care system's ability to adequately meet these high-risk populations' mental health needs are scarce. This article investigates how well the German outpatient health care system is able to detect and adequately treat them.
methodsTo this end, we combined data from a cross-sectional survey with billing data from the local social welfare office from the year 2015. Using descriptive statistics, the data of the cross-sectional study are used to quantify the psychological health care needs of asylum seekers while the secondary data analysis indicates the actual access to and extent of psychological treatment.
resultsIn the cross-sectional study, 54% of patients were screened positive for symptoms of depression, 41% for symptoms of anxiety disorder and 18% for symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. In total, 59% were screened positive for at least one of these three disorders. However, when contrasting these screening-based prevalences with the prevalences based on data from the health care system, a mismatch becomes apparent: According to the social welfare office's billing data, only 2.6% of asylum seekers received the diagnosis of depression, 1.4% were diagnosed with anxiety disorder and 2.9% with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In combination, 4.9% were diagnosed with at least one of these three disorders. Overall, less than one tenth of asylum seekers with symptoms of depression, anxiety or PTSD received the corresponding diagnosis by the health care system. Among those who were diagnosed, about 45% received no treatment at all, while 38% were treated with drugs alone. Only 1% of all patients received psychotherapy.
conclusionsPsychological complaints are very common among asylum seekers, yet only a small proportion of this population receives the corresponding diagnoses and treatment. While various factors can contribute to these shortcomings, there is an urgent need to systematically address this deficit and introduce measures to improve mental health care for this high-risk population.
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