Impact of trauma and torture on asylum-seekers

Background: Because most asylum seekers come from regions in which war and human rights violations are common, a systematic investigation of exposure to traumatic events and their psychological impact was conducted. Methods: Over an eight month period, 573 asylum-seekers were interviewed shortly aft er arrival in Geneva, Switzerland, using a questionnaire to celled informat ion on physical and psychological symptoms and previous exposure to traumat ic events. Results: Sixty two per cent reported exposure to one or more tra umatic events, and 18% reported having been tortured. Overall, 37% reported at least one severe symptom during the previous week, most often of a psyc hological nature, such as sadness most of the time, insomnia, and anxiety. Persons who reported torture were more symptomatic than those who did not, and symptoms were consistent with diagnoses of depression and post-traumati c stress disorder. A follow-up Visit was proposed to 28% of the entire samp le, and to two thirds of those who reported torture. Conclusion: These find ings suggest that a simple checklist such as the one used in this study may assist health professionals to identify asylum seekers in need of further assessment and care to reduce long-term post-traumatic psycho-social disabi lity and strengthen coping capability.