ArticleBMJ global health2025
Mental health of older adults in humanitarian settings in low- and middle-income countries: a retrospective analysis from Médecins sans Frontières-supported mental health services, 2019-2024.
Article in BMJ global health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Geopsychiatry and the complex mental health challenges of conflict: a review examining local and distal psychiatric outcomes in a fractured world.Neuropsychiatrie : Klinik, Diagnostik, Therapie und Rehabilitation : Organ der Gesellschaft Osterreichischer Nervenarzte und Psychiater · 2026Review
- Psychometric validation and optimal cut-point determination of the Hausa WHO-5 well-being index for depression screening among internally displaced persons.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
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16 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundMore complex humanitarian emergencies have a profound impact on a rapidly growing ageing population. There are few data available on the mental health conditions of older people in humanitarian settings. This study describes mental health symptoms among older adults to inform the development of age-adapted and gender-adapted mental health services in humanitarian contexts.
methodsThis multicountry study includes data from adults aged 50 years or older that accessed Médecins sans Frontières-supported mental health services in humanitarian settings across 20 countries between July 2019 and July 2024. Mental health symptoms and precipitating events were compared by age, sex and displacement status using regression analyses. Analyses were mutually adjusted for sex and displacement status to account for confounding.
findingsData of 21 926 adults were included. Older adults presented at mental health services with anxiety-related symptoms (36%), physical complaints (33%) and mood-related symptoms (18%). Compared with men, women had higher odds of reporting mood-related symptoms (adjusted Odds R=1.60; 95% CI 1.48 to 1.73), and precipitating events related to sexual trauma or abuse (aOR=9.98; 95% CI 8.11 to 12.40). Compared with non-displaced older adults, displaced older adults had higher odds of reporting neuro-psychiatric-related (aOR=2.35; 95% CI 2.07 to 2.66), mood-related (aOR=2.08; 95% CI 1.93 to 2.24), ageing-related (aOR=1.47; 95% CI 1.15 to 1.86) and anxiety-related (aOR=1.42; 95% CI 1.33 to 1.51) symptoms, and precipitating events related to sexual trauma or abuse, abuse during detention and violence, with variations depending on sex.
interpretationOlder adults in humanitarian settings experience diverse mental health symptoms, with critical differences by sex and displacement status. Women were more likely than men to present with mood-related symptoms and to report experiences of sexual trauma and abuse. Displacement significantly heightens exposure to violence and mental health presentations for both women and men. These findings underscore the urgent need to strengthen protection systems and ensure access to gender-sensitive mental health interventions for older populations.
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