ArticleBMC public health2021
Somatic distress among Syrian refugees with residence permission in Germany: analysis of a cross-sectional register-based study.
Article in BMC public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Measurement Properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 and Somatic Symptom Scale-8: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JAMA network open · 2024Pooled it
- 'A labyrinth with no way out'-the conceptualization of mental distress among Arabic-speaking refugee youth: a qualitative study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Barriers to employment: The impact of health burdens among refugees in the Norwegian introduction programme.Journal of migration and health · 2026Article
- Article
- Somatic symptom and related disorders in the Arab world: a narrative review of clinical features and care implications.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Review
- Relationship between traumatic events, somatization, psychological distress, and quality of life in female refugees in Germany.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Suicide among post-Arabellion refugees in Germany.BJPsych open · 2024Article
- Chronic pain and use of painkillers, healthcare services and long-term impairment among Syrian refugees: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Mental healthcare access among resettled Syrian refugees in Leipzig, Germany.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2024Article
- Perceived post-migration discrimination: the perspective of adolescents with migration background.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2023Article
- Assessing Somatic Symptoms With the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-15) in Syrian Refugees.Assessment · 2023Article
- Variability in mental health reporting among refugees and migrants in need of protection: new evidence from a weekly panel survey.BMC public health · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrevious studies have already proven high rates of common mental disorders in Syrian refugees. Nevertheless, little is known about the patterns of somatic distress among this refugee population. For this reason, we aimed to examine the prevalence, co-occurrence, and risk factors of somatic distress among Syrian refugees in Germany.
methodsThis study analyzes the second measurement point (N = 116) of a prospective register-based survey among 200 adult Syrian refugees with residence permission in Germany. The survey consisted of information on sociodemographic and migration-specific characteristics, health care utilization, traumatic life events, acculturative stress (Barcelona Immigration Stress Scale (BISS); subscales: perceived discrimination, intercultural contact stress, homesickness, and general psychosocial stress), and self-reported outcomes of somatic distress (Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-15)), depression (PHQ-9), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD-7), and post-traumatic symptoms (Essen Trauma Inventory (ETI)).
resultsAlmost half of the respondents (49.1%) were identified as being at risk of somatic distress (PHQ-15 score ≥ 6), and even 24.1% being bothered by moderate-to-severe levels of somatic distress (PHQ-15 score ≥ 10). The most robust associations with somatic distress were found for female gender, the amount of health care utilization, multiple trauma exposures, general psychosocial stress, and self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms. High comorbidities with somatic distress were shown for all of the common mental disorders studied.
conclusionsThe presented study reveals a significant risk of somatic distress among this displaced population and highlights implications for policy and health care providers.
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