Cohort profile: Resettlement in Uprooted Groups Explored (REFUGE)—a longitudinal study of mental health and integration in adult refugees from Syria resettled in Norway between 2015 and 2017
Purpose In the field of forced migration and mental health research, longitudinal studies with large sample sizes and rigorous methodology are lacking. Therefore, the Resettlement in Uprooted Groups Explored (REFUGE)-study was initiated in order to enhance current knowledge on mental health, quality...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2020-07-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/7/e036101.full |
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| author | Fredrik Saboonchi Alexander Nissen Prue Cauley Arnfinn Andersen Øivind Solberg |
| author_facet | Fredrik Saboonchi Alexander Nissen Prue Cauley Arnfinn Andersen Øivind Solberg |
| author_sort | Fredrik Saboonchi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Purpose In the field of forced migration and mental health research, longitudinal studies with large sample sizes and rigorous methodology are lacking. Therefore, the Resettlement in Uprooted Groups Explored (REFUGE)-study was initiated in order to enhance current knowledge on mental health, quality of life and integration among adult refugees from Syria resettled in Norway. The main aims of the study are to investigate risk and protective factors for mental ill health in a longitudinal perspective; to trace mental health trajectories and investigate important modifiers of these trajectories and to explore the association between mental health and integration in the years following resettlement. The aims will be pursued by combining data from a longitudinal, three-wave questionnaire survey with data from population-based registries on education; work participation and sick-leave; healthcare utilisation and drug prescription. The goal is to incorporate the data in an internationally shared database, the REFUGE-database, where collaborating researchers may access and use data from the study as well as deposit data from similar studies.Participants Adult (≥18 years), Syrian citizens who arrived in Norway as quota refugees, asylum seekers or through Norway’s family reunion programme between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2017. Of the initial 9990 sampled individuals for the first wave of the study (REFUGE-I), 8752 were reached by post or telephone and 902 responded (response rate=10.3%).Findings to date None published.Future plans The REFUGE-cohort study will conduct two additional data collections (2020 and 2021). Furthermore, questionnaire data will be linked to population-based registries after all three waves of data collection have been completed. Registry data will be obtained for time-periods both prior to and after the survey data collection points. Finally, pending ethics approval, we will begin the process of merging the Norwegian REFUGE-cohort with existing datasets in Sweden, establishing the extended REFUGE-database.Trial registration number ClincalTrials.gov Registry (NCT03742128). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-839ee94faf7a4a38a74f312bf6a0f719 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-839ee94faf7a4a38a74f312bf6a0f7192024-12-05T01:45:09ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552020-07-0110710.1136/bmjopen-2019-036101Cohort profile: Resettlement in Uprooted Groups Explored (REFUGE)—a longitudinal study of mental health and integration in adult refugees from Syria resettled in Norway between 2015 and 2017Fredrik Saboonchi0Alexander Nissen1Prue Cauley2Arnfinn Andersen3Øivind Solberg4Department of Health Sciences, Red Cross University College, Stockholm, SwedenNorwegian Center for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, NorwayDivision for Implementation and Treatment Research, Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, NorwayDivision for Forced Migration and Disaster research, Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Health Sciences, Red Cross University College, Stockholm, SwedenPurpose In the field of forced migration and mental health research, longitudinal studies with large sample sizes and rigorous methodology are lacking. Therefore, the Resettlement in Uprooted Groups Explored (REFUGE)-study was initiated in order to enhance current knowledge on mental health, quality of life and integration among adult refugees from Syria resettled in Norway. The main aims of the study are to investigate risk and protective factors for mental ill health in a longitudinal perspective; to trace mental health trajectories and investigate important modifiers of these trajectories and to explore the association between mental health and integration in the years following resettlement. The aims will be pursued by combining data from a longitudinal, three-wave questionnaire survey with data from population-based registries on education; work participation and sick-leave; healthcare utilisation and drug prescription. The goal is to incorporate the data in an internationally shared database, the REFUGE-database, where collaborating researchers may access and use data from the study as well as deposit data from similar studies.Participants Adult (≥18 years), Syrian citizens who arrived in Norway as quota refugees, asylum seekers or through Norway’s family reunion programme between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2017. Of the initial 9990 sampled individuals for the first wave of the study (REFUGE-I), 8752 were reached by post or telephone and 902 responded (response rate=10.3%).Findings to date None published.Future plans The REFUGE-cohort study will conduct two additional data collections (2020 and 2021). Furthermore, questionnaire data will be linked to population-based registries after all three waves of data collection have been completed. Registry data will be obtained for time-periods both prior to and after the survey data collection points. Finally, pending ethics approval, we will begin the process of merging the Norwegian REFUGE-cohort with existing datasets in Sweden, establishing the extended REFUGE-database.Trial registration number ClincalTrials.gov Registry (NCT03742128).https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/7/e036101.full |
| spellingShingle | Fredrik Saboonchi Alexander Nissen Prue Cauley Arnfinn Andersen Øivind Solberg Cohort profile: Resettlement in Uprooted Groups Explored (REFUGE)—a longitudinal study of mental health and integration in adult refugees from Syria resettled in Norway between 2015 and 2017 BMJ Open |
| title | Cohort profile: Resettlement in Uprooted Groups Explored (REFUGE)—a longitudinal study of mental health and integration in adult refugees from Syria resettled in Norway between 2015 and 2017 |
| title_full | Cohort profile: Resettlement in Uprooted Groups Explored (REFUGE)—a longitudinal study of mental health and integration in adult refugees from Syria resettled in Norway between 2015 and 2017 |
| title_fullStr | Cohort profile: Resettlement in Uprooted Groups Explored (REFUGE)—a longitudinal study of mental health and integration in adult refugees from Syria resettled in Norway between 2015 and 2017 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cohort profile: Resettlement in Uprooted Groups Explored (REFUGE)—a longitudinal study of mental health and integration in adult refugees from Syria resettled in Norway between 2015 and 2017 |
| title_short | Cohort profile: Resettlement in Uprooted Groups Explored (REFUGE)—a longitudinal study of mental health and integration in adult refugees from Syria resettled in Norway between 2015 and 2017 |
| title_sort | cohort profile resettlement in uprooted groups explored refuge a longitudinal study of mental health and integration in adult refugees from syria resettled in norway between 2015 and 2017 |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/7/e036101.full |
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