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The Danish Trauma Database for Refugees (DTD): A Multicenter Database Collaboration—Overcoming the Challenges and Enhancing Mental Health Treatment and Research for Refugees

Author

Listed:
  • Marie Høgh Thøgersen

    (The Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark)

  • Line Bager

    (The Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
    National Center for Register-Based Research, Aarhus University, 8210 Aarhus, Denmark)

  • Sofie Grimshave Bangsgaard

    (The Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark)

  • Sabina Palic

    (The Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark)

  • Mikkel Auning-Hansen

    (The Rehabilitation Center for Trauma Survivors (RCT), 6100 Haderslev, Denmark)

  • Stine Bjerrum Møller

    (The Clinics for Trauma and Torture Survivors (ATT), 7100 Vejle, Denmark
    Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark)

  • Kirstine Bruun Larsen

    (The Rehabilitation Center for Refugees (RCF), 9000 Ålborg, Denmark)

  • Louise Tækker

    (Privat Treatment Center for Traumatized Refugees and Their Families, (OASIS), 1164 Copenhagen, Denmark)

  • Bo Søndergaard Jensen

    (The PTSD and Anxiety Clinic, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus, Denmark)

  • Søren Bothe

    (The Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark)

  • Linda Nordin

    (The Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
    Department of Psychology, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden)

Abstract

Mental health of trauma-affected refugees is an understudied area, resulting in inadequate and poorer treatment outcomes. To address this, more high-quality treatment studies that include predictive analyses, long-term evaluations, cultural adaptations, and take account for comorbidities, are needed. Moreover, given the complex intertwining of refugees’ health with post-migration stressors and other social factors, it is crucial to examine the social determinants of refugee mental health. The Danish Trauma Database for Refugees (DTD) is a multicenter research database uniting six national centers that provide outpatient treatment for trauma-affected refugees. Through the database, we collect clinical and sociodemographic data from approximately 1200 refugees annually and will merge the database with Danish population register data. The purpose of the DTD is two-fold; clinical and research. The DTD offers data-driven guidance for routine clinical treatment planning of the individual patient, as well as exceptional research opportunities for testing treatment interventions in clinical settings, with larger sample sizes, and more representative heterogeneity of the population. Complex analyses of risk and protective factors, barriers, access to treatment, and societal and transgenerational aspects of trauma are possible with the DTD. This conceptual paper introduces the DTD, the historical background, the development process and implementation strategy, and the associated challenges with developing and running a multicenter database. Most importantly, it highlights the clinical and research potential of the DTD for advancing the understanding and treatment of trauma-affected refugees.

Suggested Citation

  • Marie Høgh Thøgersen & Line Bager & Sofie Grimshave Bangsgaard & Sabina Palic & Mikkel Auning-Hansen & Stine Bjerrum Møller & Kirstine Bruun Larsen & Louise Tækker & Bo Søndergaard Jensen & Søren Both, 2023. "The Danish Trauma Database for Refugees (DTD): A Multicenter Database Collaboration—Overcoming the Challenges and Enhancing Mental Health Treatment and Research for Refugees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(16), pages 1-16, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:16:p:6611-:d:1220956
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marwa Shoeb & Harvey Weinstein & Richard Mollica, 2007. "The Harvard Trauma Questionnaire: Adapting a Cross-Cultural Instrument for Measuring Torture, Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Iraqi Refugees," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 53(5), pages 447-463, September.
    2. Satinsky, Emily & Fuhr, Daniela C. & Woodward, Aniek & Sondorp, Egbert & Roberts, Bayard, 2019. "Mental health care utilisation and access among refugees and asylum seekers in Europe: A systematic review," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(9), pages 851-863.
    3. Hiba Abu Suhaiban & Lana Ruvolo Grasser & Arash Javanbakht, 2019. "Mental Health of Refugees and Torture Survivors: A Critical Review of Prevalence, Predictors, and Integrated Care," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-14, June.
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