Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34088735›Full record

ArticleBMJ global health2021

A network meta-analysis of psychosocial interventions for refugees and asylum seekers with PTSD.

Giulia Turrini, Federico Tedeschi, Pim Cuijpers, Cinzia Del Giovane, Ahlke Kip, Nexhmedin Morina, Michela Nosè, Giovanni Ostuzzi, Marianna Purgato, Chiara Ricciardi and 3 more

Open access · goldAbstract readNetwork Meta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ global health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed
6.8field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 53 citations in OpenAlex.

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  8. War Anxiety: A Review.Current psychiatry reports · 2025
    Review
  9. Post-traumatic stress disorder: evolving conceptualization and evidence, and future research directions.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Psychotherapy use among migrants: a register-based longitudinal study.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2024
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 5 institutions in 6 countries.

Giulia TurriniCochrane Global Mental Health and WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy giulia.turrini@univr.it.
Federico TedeschiCochrane Global Mental Health and WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Pim CuijpersDepartment of Clinical, Neuro, and Developmental Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Institute, and WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Cinzia Del GiovaneInstitute of Primary Health Care (BIHAM), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Ahlke KipInstitute of Psychology, University of Münster, Munster, Germany.
Nexhmedin MorinaInstitute of Psychology, University of Münster, Munster, Germany.
Michela NosèCochrane Global Mental Health and WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Giovanni OstuzziCochrane Global Mental Health and WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Marianna PurgatoCochrane Global Mental Health and WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Chiara RicciardiCochrane Global Mental Health and WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Marit SijbrandijDepartment of Clinical, Neuro, and Developmental Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Institute, and WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Wietse TolSection of Global Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Kobenhavn, Denmark.
Corrado BarbuiCochrane Global Mental Health and WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
University of Verona · ITUniversity of Münster · DEVrije Universiteit Amsterdam · NLUniversity of Bern · CHUniversity of Copenhagen · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionRefugees and asylum seekers are vulnerable to common mental disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Using a network meta-analysis (NMA) approach, the present systematic review compared and ranked psychosocial interventions for the treatment of PTSD in adult refugees and asylum seekers.

methodsRandomised studies of psychosocial interventions for adult refugees and asylum seekers with PTSD were systematically identified. PTSD symptoms at postintervention was the primary outcome. Standardised mean differences (SMDs) and ORs were pooled using pairwise and NMA. Study quality was assessed with the Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB) tool, and certainty of evidence was assessed through the Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis application.

resultsA total of 23 studies with 2308 participants were included. Sixteen studies were conducted in high-income countries, and seven in low-income or middle-income countries. Most studies were at low risk of bias according to the Cochrane RoB tool. NMA on PTSD symptoms showed that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) (SMD=-1.41; 95% CI -2.43 to -0.38) and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) (SMD=-1.30; 95% CI -2.40 to -0.20) were significantly more effective than waitlist (WL). CBT was also associated with a higher decrease in PTSD symptoms than treatment as usual (TAU) (SMD -1.51; 95% CI -2.67 to -0.36). For all other interventions, the difference with WL and TAU was not significant. CBT and EMDR ranked best according to the mean surface under the cumulative ranking. Regarding acceptability, no intervention had less dropouts than inactive interventions.

conclusionCBT and EMDR appeared to have the greatest effects in reducing PTSD symptoms in asylum seekers and refugees. This evidence should be considered in guidelines and implementation packages to facilitate dissemination and uptake in refugee settings.

Indexed as

RefugeesStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticAdultHumansPsychosocial InterventionPsychotherapymental health & psychiatrypublic healthtraumatology

Identifiers

PMID34088735
PMCPMC8183228
OpenAlexW3164023611

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.