ArticleBMC public health2021
Mental health consequences of long-term stays in refugee camps: preliminary evidence from Moria.
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 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Brief CBT-based psychological interventions to improve mental health outcomes in refugee populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Pooled it
- "I'm restlessly eager to breastfeed": breastfeeding narratives of internally displaced Yazidi genocide survivors in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.International breastfeeding journal · 2026Article
- Mental health and psychosocial support for asylum seekers and refugees in Greece: a narrative review of stressors, needs, services, and barriers.International journal for equity in health · 2026Review
- Difference in out-of-pocket health expenditure among Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and the Kurdistan region of Iraq.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- Mental health in the time of polycrisis: geopolitical determinants and modern psychiatry.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Depression, anxiety, and medication adherence among Sudanese refugees with chronic illnesses in Aftit refugee camp, northwest Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.Global health action · 2025Article
- Healthcare Access and Outcomes for Refugee Women in Transit: A Scoping Review of Facilitators and Barriers in South and Southeast Asia.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2025Article
- Self-Perception of Children and Adolescents' Refugees with Trauma: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis of the Literature.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Post-migration stress mediates associations between potentially traumatic peri-migration experiences and mental health among Middle Eastern refugees in Germany.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The status of care for youth with type 1 diabetes within and coming from humanitarian crises settings: a narrative review.Conflict and health · 2025Review
- Using a human security lens to examine experiences of violence against women in long-term encampment.PloS one · 2025Article
- A retrospective cross-sectional study of risk factors for communicable disease diagnoses among refugees in mainland Greek camps, 2016-2017.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Prevalence and associated factors of depression and anxiety among Sudanese refugees at Bambasi Camp in northwest Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Livelihood challenges of single female household heads in the Rohingya and host communities in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Factors contributing to the high prevalence of intimate partner violence among south Sudanese refugee women in Ethiopia.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Access to Healthcare Services and Essential Medicines in GREEK Migrant Camps: an Online Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2023Article
- "Of course, you get depression in this situation": Explanatory Models (EMs) among Afghan refugees in camps in Northern Greece.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Psychological well-being, mental distress, metabolic syndrome, and associated factors among people living in a refugee camp in Greece: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Assessment of physical activity and its facilitators and barriers among Syrian refugees living in Amman City, Jordan: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Refugee Camps as Torturing Environments-An Analysis of the Conditions in the Moria Reception Center (Greece) Based on the Torturing Environment Scale.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEver since the implementation of the EU-Turkey deal, most refugees that enter Greece via sea are confined to the island on which they arrive until their asylum claims are adjudicated, where they generally reside in camps. Some of these camps have detention-like characteristics and dire living conditions, such as Moria camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece. Aid-organizations have stated that the situation in camp Moria deteriorates the mental health of its inhabitants and there is qualitative evidence to support this. This study explores the quantitative relationship between the incidence of acute mental health crises and the length of stay in the camp.
methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted using routinely collected data on 856 consultations of 634 different patients during 90 nights at an emergency clinic in Moria camp. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore whether the length of stay in the camp was predictive of the occurrence of an acute mental health crisis.
resultsOf the 634 patients, the majority were men (59·3%), the average age was 23·2 years [0-71], and 24·3% was < 18 years. 25·5% (n = 218) of consultations were related to mental health problems; 17·0% (n = 37) of these met the study's case definition of an acute mental health crisis. Such crises were positively associated with the length of stay in the camp (p = 0·011); the odds ratio of a mental health crisis increases with 1·03 for every 10% increase in days of residence in the camp. This is notable when considering the average length of stay in the camp is 71 days.
conclusionThis study offers quantitative support for the notion that the adverse conditions in Moria camp deteriorate the mental health of its inhabitants as suggested in qualitative research. Although this study does not provide evidence of causality, it is likely that the poor and unsafe living conditions, challenging refugee determination procedures, and a lack of mental health services in the camp are significant contributing factors. We urgently call for Europe's policymakers to honour the '51 Geneva refugee convention and terminate the neglectful situation on the Greek archipelago.
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