ArticleJournal of migration and health2026
Association between mental health screening and healthcare utilization among refugees and asylum seekers in Sweden: A retrospective cohort study.
Article in Journal of migration and health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Asylum seekers and refugees are at increased risk of mental illness. Previous research suggests underutilization and delayed access to care in this the population. This study aims to explore if screening during a health examination is associated with mental health care utilization among refugees and asylum seekers. Methods: A retrospective cohort study examined mental healthcare utilization patterns during the five months following voluntary health examinations among asylum seekers and refugees screened with the Refugee Health Screener (RHS-13). We analyzed data from 7726 individuals across five primary healthcare clinics in the Stockholm Region, Sweden, between 2019 and 2022. Outcomes included utilization of mental healthcare within primary care, with and without a recorded diagnosis, and referrals to other mental health units. Results: Individuals who were screened had a fivefold increase in mental healthcare utilization compared to those who were not screened (odds ratio (OR) 5.09, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.69-7.04). Both individuals aged 26-39 OR 2.13, (95% CI 1.37-3.31) and 40 year and older OR 2.11, (95% CI 1.34-3.31) were significantly more likely to utilize healthcare compared to the youngest group. Refugees and asylum seekers from the Middle East and North Africa (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.38-0.90) had a lower likelihood of utilizing mental health care compared to those from Asia. Conclusion: Screening was associated with a significant increase in mental healthcare utilization. This underscores that integrating mental health screening into routine health examinations can identify mental illness earlier and create more accessible pathways to mental health services.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.