Identification of Emotional Distress Among Asylum Seekers and Migrant Workers by Primary Care Physicians: A Brief Report

OBJECTIVE: To compare service users' self-reported ED and its identification by general practitioners (GP) and to identify socio-demographic variables associated with ED.

BACKGROUND: Emotional distress (ED) is prevalent among immigrants. The open clinic of Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)-Israel provides free medical and psychiatric treatment to immigrants without access to the ambulatory health service. In 2010, the psychiatric records represented 1% of the total medical files (N=28,000) in the open clinic.

METHOD: A convenience sample (N=97) of the general medical service users completed the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). A score of 11 or above was considered a suspected mental disorder. The GPs' clinical assessment of ED was compared with the self-reported score.

RESULTS: The sample's mean GHQ-12 score was higher than the threshold (M=12.7, SD=6.3, range 0-35). Fifty three percent (n=51) had a GHQ-12 score higher than 11, and 8% (n=8) were identified by the GPs as emotionally distressed and/or in need of psychiatric care. The mean score of the study sample was higher than that found in past studies regarding the Arab-Israeli general population (M=10.8, SD=0.35). Employment was the only socio-demographic variable significantly associated with ED.

CONCLUSIONS: ED was high among immigrants, but under-diagnosed by GPs. Employment might serve as a protective factor for ED.