Jesuthasan Jenny, Sönmez Ekin, Abels Ingar, Kurmeyer Christine, Gutermann Jana, Kimbel Renate, Krüger Antje, Niklewski Guenter, Richter Kneginja, Stangier Ulrich, Wollny Anja, Zier Ulrike, Oertelt-Prigione Sabine, Shouler-Ocak Meryam
Psychiatric University Clinic of Charité at St. Hedwig Hospital, Große Hamburger Straße 5 - 11, 10115, Berlin, Germany.
Department of Psychiatry, Marmara University, School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
BMC Med. 2018 Feb 1;16(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s12916-017-1003-5.
The year 2016 has marked the highest number of displaced people worldwide on record. A large number of these refugees are women, yet little is known about their specific situation and the hurdles they have to face during their journey. Herein, we investigated whether sociodemographic characteristics and traumatic experiences in the home country and during the flight affected the quality of life of refugee women arriving in Germany in 2015-2016.
Six hundred sixty-three women from six countries (Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, and Eritrea) living in shared reception facilities in five distinct German regions were interviewed by native speakers using a structured questionnaire. Sociodemographic data and information about reasons for fleeing, traumatic experiences, symptoms, quality of life, and expectations towards their future were elicited. All information was stored in a central database in Berlin. Descriptive analyses, correlations, and multivariate analyses were performed.
The most frequent reasons cited for fleeing were war, terror, and threat to one's life or the life of a family member. Eighty-seven percent of women resorted to smugglers to make the journey to Europe, and this significantly correlated to residence in a war zone (odds ratio (OR) = 2.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.4-4.6, p = 0.003) and homelessness prior to fleeing (OR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1-4.3, p = 0.04). Overall the described quality of life by the women was moderate (overall mean = 3.23, range of 1-5) and slightly worse than that of European populations (overall mean = 3.68, p < 0.0001). The main reasons correlating with lower quality of life were older age, having had a near-death experience, having been attacked by a family member, and absence of health care in case of illness.
Refugee women experience multiple traumatic experiences before and/or during their journey, some of which are gender-specific. These experiences affect the quality of life in their current country of residence and might impact their integration. We encourage the early investigation of these traumatic experiences to rapidly identify women at higher risk and to improve health care for somatic and mental illness.
2016年是全球有记录以来流离失所人数最多的一年。这些难民中有大量女性，但对于她们的具体情况以及在逃亡途中所面临的障碍却知之甚少。在此，我们调查了社会人口学特征以及在原籍国和逃亡途中的创伤经历是否会影响2015 - 2016年抵达德国的难民妇女的生活质量。
来自六个国家（阿富汗、叙利亚、伊朗、伊拉克、索马里和厄立特里亚）、居住在德国五个不同地区的共享接待设施中的663名妇女，由母语为英语的人员使用结构化问卷进行访谈。收集社会人口学数据以及关于逃亡原因、创伤经历、症状、生活质量和对未来期望的信息。所有信息都存储在柏林的一个中央数据库中。进行描述性分析、相关性分析和多变量分析。
提及最多的逃亡原因是战争、恐怖以及对自己或家庭成员生命的威胁。87%的女性在前往欧洲的途中求助于蛇头，这与居住在战区显著相关（优势比（OR）= 2.5，95%置信区间（CI）= 1.4 - 4.6，p = 0.003）以及逃亡前无家可归（OR = 2.1，95% CI = 1 - 4.3，p = 0.04）。总体而言，这些女性所描述的生活质量为中等水平（总体均值 = 3.23，范围为1 - 5），略低于欧洲人群（总体均值 = 3.68，p < 0.0001）。与生活质量较低相关的主要原因是年龄较大、有过濒死经历、曾遭受家庭成员攻击以及生病时无法获得医疗保健。
难民妇女在旅程之前和/或期间经历了多种创伤经历，其中一些是特定性别的。这些经历影响她们在当前居住国的生活质量，并可能影响她们的融入。我们鼓励尽早调查这些创伤经历，以便迅速识别出风险较高的女性，并改善对躯体疾病和精神疾病的医疗保健。
