An assessment of the prevalence and degree of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Syrian refugees in Arizona

Abstract

Background: In the absence of information on the mental health impact of the Syrian conflict on refugees resettled in the United States, we measured the prevalence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among Syrian refugees in Arizona. Methods: 50 participants were surveyed with the Arabic version of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ). Univariate logistic regression was used to ascertain the odds of PTSD score >2.5 relative to survey characteristics. Multivariate linear regression was used to ascertain the mean difference of raw scores relative to survey characteristics. Results: Overall PTSD prevalence among Syrian refugees was 18%, nearly 9 times higher than the 2.3% of Syrian refugees who are referred to behavioral health services upon arrival to Arizona. The odds ratios for patients who experienced trauma and torture were significantly higher than all other questionnaire responses. Discussion: This suggests the need for expansion of behavioral health screening and the use of validated tools to identify PTSD rates among this population