ReviewBJPsych open2021
Prevalence of complex post-traumatic stress disorder in refugees and asylum seekers: systematic review.
Review in BJPsych open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of loneliness and social isolation amongst individuals with severe mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Digital-Based Interventions for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Literature Review.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2024Pooled it
- Tracing the paths: a systematic review of mediators of complex trauma and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- MDMA-assisted therapy for moderate to severe PTSD: a randomized, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial.Nature medicine · 2023Trial
- Long-term effectiveness of Self-Help Plus in refugees and asylum seekers resettled in Western Europe: 12-month outcomes of a randomised controlled trial.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2022Trial
- Psychological distress, PTSD, and complex PTSD in a war-torn population: a two-wave longitudinal study among medical students in Gaza.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Prevalence and discriminant validity of PTSD and CPTSD in a community sample of adolescents with refugee backgrounds residing in Sweden.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Implementing PROMs where care is complex: lessons from trauma-focused mental health services for refugees.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Complex posttraumatic stress disorder in treatment-seeking refugees: the role of trauma history, post-migration stressors and comorbid symptoms.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Article
- Unraveling the interconnectedness of trauma-related common mental disorders in Somali refugees: a network analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Collaborative Development of a Self-Tracking Assisted Psychotherapy Treatment Concept for Refugees With Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Participatory Action Research.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Exploring emerging psychopathological characteristics and challenges of novel depression subtypes: insights from the literature.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Review
- Hair hormone data from Syrian refugee children: Perspectives from a two-year longitudinal study.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Review
- Prevalence, comorbidities, and factors associated with prolonged grief disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder and complex posttraumatic stress disorder in refugees: a systematic review.Conflict and health · 2024Review
- The social determinants of mental health and disorder: evidence, prevention and recommendations.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2024Article
- When Addressing Trauma Makes a Difference: A Case Report of Undiagnosed Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.Cureus · 2024Article
- Group Schema Therapy for Refugees with Treatment-Resistant PTSD and Personality Pathology.Case reports in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Complex posttraumatic stress disorder in intergenerational trauma transmission among Eritrean asylum-seeking mother-child dyads.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Article
- The Danish Trauma Database for Refugees (DTD): A Multicenter Database Collaboration-Overcoming the Challenges and Enhancing Mental Health Treatment and Research for Refugees.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Cross-cultural validity and psychometric properties of the International Trauma Questionnaire in a clinical refugee sample.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRefugees and asylum seekers often report having experienced numerous complex traumas. It is important to understand the prevalence of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), which can follow complex traumas.
aimsThis systematic review aims to summarise the available literature reporting the prevalence in refugees and asylum seekers of three operationalised definitions of CPTSD: the ICD-11 diagnostic criteria, the ICD-10 criteria (for enduring personality change after catastrophic experience) and the DSM-IV criteria (for disorders of extreme stress not otherwise specified).
methodSix electronic databases were searched for studies reporting the prevalence of CPTSD in adult refugee and/or asylum-seeking samples. Owing to heterogeneity between the studies, a narrative synthesis approach was used to summarise studies. Methodological quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Critical Appraisal Checklist for Prevalence Studies. This systematic review has been registered with PROSPERO (registration number CRD42020188422, https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=188422).
resultsSystematic searches identified 15 eligible studies, with 10 examining treatment-seeking samples and five using population samples. CPTSD prevalence in treatment-seeking samples was between 16 and 38%. Prevalence in population samples ranged from 2.2 to 9.3% in four studies, with the fifth reporting a much higher estimate (50.9%).
conclusionsThis review highlights both the high prevalence of CPTSD in treatment samples and the lack of research aiming to establish prevalence of CPTSD in refugee and asylum-seeking populations. Understanding the prevalence of these disabling disorders has implications for policy and healthcare services for the appropriate promotion, planning and provision of suitable treatment and interventions for this highly traumatised population.
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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.