International Health Policy Program, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi 11000, Thailand.
Sirindron College of Public Health, Chonburi 20000, Thailand.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jul 7;18(14):7269. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18147269.
Academic evidence on the health of urban refugees and asylum seekers (URAS) in Thailand is extremely sparse, especially for neglected problems such as mental health disorders. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of anxiety and depression and factors associated with these problems among URAS in Bangkok. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019. The URAS were randomly selected from the roster of the Bangkok Refugee Centre (BRC). A self-administered questionnaire was used and 180 samples were recruited. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression were used for the analysis. We found a prevalence of 70.0% for anxiety and 39.5% for depression. Compared to Southeast Asia and China, URAS from other regions were 3.4 times (95% CI 1.5-7.5, < 0.05) and 4.0 times (95% CI 1.1-14.0, < 0.05) more likely to experience anxiety and depression, respectively. URAS with chronic co-morbidities (OR = 3.4, 95% CI 1.2-9.4, < 0.05) and being divorced or widowed (OR = 11.1, 95% CI 2.1-57.2, < 0.05) faced greater odds of depression than those without co-morbidities and being single. Related health authorities should play a proactive role in providing mental healthcare services for URAS, with greater consideration for those of certain nationalities and with chronic diseases.
泰国有关城市难民和寻求庇护者（URAS）健康的学术证据极为匮乏，尤其是在心理健康障碍等被忽视的问题方面。本研究旨在调查曼谷 URAS 中焦虑和抑郁的患病率以及与这些问题相关的因素。2019 年进行了一项横断面研究。URAS 是从曼谷难民中心（BRC）的名单中随机选择的。使用了自我管理问卷，共招募了 180 个样本。采用描述性统计和多变量逻辑回归进行分析。我们发现焦虑的患病率为 70.0%，抑郁的患病率为 39.5%。与东南亚和中国相比，来自其他地区的 URAS 出现焦虑和抑郁的可能性分别高出 3.4 倍（95%CI 1.5-7.5， < 0.05）和 4.0 倍（95%CI 1.1-14.0， < 0.05）。患有慢性合并症的 URAS（OR = 3.4，95%CI 1.2-9.4， < 0.05）和离婚或丧偶的 URAS（OR = 11.1，95%CI 2.1-57.2， < 0.05）比没有合并症和单身的 URAS 更有可能出现抑郁。相关卫生当局应积极为 URAS 提供精神保健服务，对于某些特定国籍和患有慢性疾病的人应给予更多考虑。
