Department of Adolescent Medicine and Eating Disorders, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Western Australia.
Division of Paediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia.
Arch Dis Child. 2018 Mar;103(3):240-246. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2017-313451. Epub 2017 Oct 24.
Adolescent refugees encounter traumatic stressors and are at risk of developing psychosocial health problems; limited research data exist internationally. This study aims to identify health risk behaviours among adolescent refugees resettling in Western Australia and assess the feasibility of using a standardised adolescent health questionnaire for this purpose.
Refugees aged 12 years and above attending a tertiary Refugee Health Service (RHS) were recruited over 12 months. Sociodemographic data were collected. Psychosocial assessments based on the 'ome, ducation/Eating, ctivities, rugs, exuality, uicide/mental health' (HEADSS) framework were undertaken utilising interpreters where required. Health concerns identified were managed through the RHS.
A total of 122 adolescents (20 ethnicities) participated; 65% required interpreters. Median age (range) was 14 (12-17) years. Most (80%) had nuclear family separation. Almost half (49%) had a deceased/missing family member. A third (37%) had lived in refugee camps and 20% had experienced closed detention. The median time (range) since arrival in Australia was 11 (2-86) months. Every adolescent had at least one health concern identified during the psychosocial assessment. Frequency of health concerns identified in each domain were 87% for home, 66% for education, 23% for eating, 93% for activities, 5% for drugs, 88% for sexuality and 61% for suicide/mental health. Most adolescents (75%) required intervention, consisting of counselling for health risk behaviours and/or referral to health or community services.
It is feasible to use a standardised adolescent health questionnaire to identify health risk behaviours among a cohort of ethnically diverse adolescent refugees. Use of the questionnaire identified a large burden of psychosocial health issues requiring multidisciplinary intervention.
青少年难民遭遇创伤性应激源，面临出现心理社会健康问题的风险；国际上相关研究数据有限。本研究旨在确定在澳大利亚西部定居的青少年难民的健康风险行为，并评估为此目的使用标准化青少年健康问卷的可行性。
在 12 个月的时间里，招募了在三级难民健康服务（RHS）就诊的 12 岁及以上的难民。收集了社会人口统计学数据。根据“家庭、教育/饮食、活动、药物、性、自杀/心理健康”（HEADSS）框架进行心理社会评估，如有需要则利用口译员。通过 RHS 处理确定的健康问题。
共有 122 名青少年（20 个种族）参与；65%需要口译员。中位数年龄（范围）为 14 岁（12-17 岁）。大多数（80%）经历了核心家庭分离。近一半（49%）有死亡/失踪的家庭成员。三分之一（37%）曾居住在难民营，20%曾经历过封闭拘留。中位数（范围）自抵达澳大利亚以来的时间为 11 个月（2-86 个月）。每位青少年在心理社会评估中至少有一个健康问题。在每个领域确定的健康问题的频率分别为：家庭 87%、教育 66%、饮食 23%、活动 93%、药物 5%、性 88%、自杀/心理健康 61%。大多数青少年（75%）需要干预，包括健康风险行为的咨询和/或转介到健康或社区服务。
使用标准化青少年健康问卷识别不同种族青少年难民的健康风险行为是可行的。使用问卷确定了需要多学科干预的大量心理社会健康问题。
