ArticleBJPsych open2021
Prevalence of depressive symptoms and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder among newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers in Germany: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in BJPsych open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 77 citations in OpenAlex.
- Research on psychotherapy for refugees in Germany: A systematic review on its transdisciplinary and transregional opening.Transcultural psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder and associated factors among displaced people in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- A self-guided digital mental health intervention for Syrian refugees in Germany and Sweden: effects from two pragmatic randomized controlled trials.BMC psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Culturally sensitive stepped care for adolescent refugees: efficacy and cost-utility of a multicentric randomized controlled trial.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Trial
- Empowerment group therapy for refugees with affective disorders: results of a multicenter randomized controlled trial.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2023Trial
- Posttraumatic stress disorder from early childhood to late adolescence: a resilience-oriented approach to prevention, diagnosis, and clinical management.Discover mental health · 2026Review
- Effect of a stepped-care trauma rehabilitation programme for migrants in Germany: the 'NAT counselling intervention' study protocol for a naturalistic parallel group trial with a regression discontinuity design for quasi-randomization.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Does country of residence matter? A cross-sectional comparison of PTSD and depression among traumatized, treatment-seeking Syrians residing in Syria and Syrian refugees in Germany and Turkey.Journal of migration and health · 2026Article
- Association between mental health screening and healthcare utilization among refugees and asylum seekers in Sweden: A retrospective cohort study.Journal of migration and health · 2026Article
- A chain mediation analysis of the effects of psychological inflexibility, perception of threat, and behavioral adherence among refugees during crisis: The case of the COVID-19 pandemic.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- Cultural differences in healthcare: An investigation using cognitive-affective mapping.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- Policy paper of the Committee on Ethics and Task Force on Migration and Mental Health: Migration and mental health of migrants, refugees, asylum seekers - Ethical dilemmas and concerns.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2025Review
- A Digital Psychosocial Service (Sui App) for Arabic-Speaking Refugees in Switzerland: Development and Cultural-Contextual Adaptation Using a User-Centered and Participatory Approach.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- [Digital health applications for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder : Current state, opportunities, and challenges].Der Nervenarzt · 2025Review
- Cumulative hardship: the role of perceived injustice in linking war-related trauma and discrimination with mental health.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2025Article
- The Body as a Vessel for Trauma: The Clinical Case Study of Aisha.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Editorial: Impact and correlation between migration and psychiatric disorders.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- The impact of age-related differences in emotion dysregulation on refugee mental health and social outcomes.Journal of traumatic stress · 2024Article
- Use and application of geographical restrictions in systematic reviews with the aim of including studies about Germany: An update of a methodological review.Health information and libraries journal · 2024Review
- Clinician treatment choices for post-traumatic stress disorder: ambassadors survey of psychiatrists in 39 European countries.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn total numbers, Germany has faced the largest number of refugees and asylum seekers (RAS) in Europe in the past decade. Although a considerable proportion have experienced traumatic and stressful life events, there is no systematic review to date examining the prevalence of depressive symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in RAS in Germany.
aimsTo calculate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and PTSD symptoms in the general population of RAS living in Germany after the year 2000 and explore the impact of study- and participant-related characteristics on prevalence estimates.
methodWe systematically searched PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PSYNDEX, Academic Search Complete, Science Direct and Web of Science from January 2000 to May 2020 to identify articles reporting prevalence of depressive symptoms and PTSD in RAS in Germany (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020182796).
resultsIn total, 31 different surveys met inclusion criteria with 20 surveys reporting prevalence estimates of depressive symptoms and 25 surveys symptoms of PTSD. Based on screening tools, the pooled prevalence estimate of PTSD symptoms was 29.9% (95% CI 20.8-38.7%) and of depressive symptoms 39.8% (95% CI 29.8-50.1%). Heterogeneity was large within and between subgroups. In multivariate meta-regressions on depressive symptoms, heterogeneity was largely explained by survey period, length of field period and study quality.
conclusionsPrevalence rates of depressive symptoms and PTSD symptoms in RAS are notably large. They exceed the prevalence in the general German population. As a result of high heterogeneity, however, pooled prevalence rates should be interpreted with caution.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.