IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v55y2009i3p203-213.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Psychotic Symptoms and General Health in a Socially Disadvantaged Migrant Community in Bologna

Author

Listed:
  • Ilaria Tarricone

    (Institute of Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy, Ilaria.tarricone@unibo.it)

  • Anna Rita Atti

    (Institute of Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy)

  • Federica Salvatori

    (Servizio Neuropsichiatrico, Repubblica di San Marino, Italy)

  • Mauro Braca

    (Institute of Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy)

  • Silvia Ferrari

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy)

  • Davide Malmusi

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy)

  • Domenico Berardi

    (Institute of Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy)

Abstract

Background and aims: Social exclusion and reduced access to community health services can lead to urgent health problems among immigrants; this may explain their increasing rate of admittance to psychiatric inpatient units. This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate the prevalence of psychotic symptoms among Romanian immigrants living in very poor conditions at an abandoned hotel in Bologna and to highlight the possible correlation with general health status, distress and socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: The Psychosis Screening Questionnaire (PSQ) and General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) were administered to all immigrants residing at the hotel during two index days with the help of a cultural mediator. Socio-demographic, migration and health characteristics were also collected. Results: Sixty eight subjects were evaluated. More than 80% had left Romania for economic reasons. Of immigrants, 57% exceeded the four-point GHQ-12 threshold of potential mental disorder and 19% scored positively at the PSQ. Immigrants with positive PSQ showed higher mean GHQ-12 scores (5.9 ± 3.5 vs. 3.8 ± 2.75; p = 0.02). The development of post-migration health problems significantly predicts positive PSQ cases even after adjusting for age, sex and GHQ-12 dichotomized score ( OR = 21.2, CI = 1.1—169.4). Conclusion: This community of immigrants living in deprived conditions showed a high prevalence of distress and psychotic symptoms, related to health problems. Preventing excess of psychosis among immigrants and ethnic minorities in critical socio-economic conditions should mean, first and foremost, facilitating social integration and access to primary care.

Suggested Citation

  • Ilaria Tarricone & Anna Rita Atti & Federica Salvatori & Mauro Braca & Silvia Ferrari & Davide Malmusi & Domenico Berardi, 2009. "Psychotic Symptoms and General Health in a Socially Disadvantaged Migrant Community in Bologna," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 55(3), pages 203-213, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:55:y:2009:i:3:p:203-213
    DOI: 10.1177/0020764008093445
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764008093445
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0020764008093445?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Iglesias, Edgar & Robertson, Eva & Johansson, Sven-Erik & Engfeldt, Peter & Sundquist, Jan, 2003. "Women, international migration and self-reported health. A population-based study of women of reproductive age," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 111-124, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stéphanie Paillard-Borg & David Hallberg, 2018. "The Other Side of the Mirror: An Analytic Journalistic Approach to the Subjective Well-Being of Filipino Women Migrant Workers in Japan," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(1), pages 21582440187, February.
    2. Zunzunegui, Maria-Victoria & Forster, Mathieu & Gauvin, Lise & Raynault, Marie-France & Douglas Willms, J., 2006. "Community unemployment and immigrants' health in Montreal," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 485-500, July.
    3. Sundquist, Jan & Johansson, Sven-Erik & Yang, Min & Sundquist, Kristina, 2006. "Low linking social capital as a predictor of coronary heart disease in Sweden: A cohort study of 2.8 million people," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 954-963, February.
    4. Cecilie Dinesen & Signe Nielsen & Laust Mortensen & Allan Krasnik, 2011. "Inequality in self-rated health among immigrants, their descendants and ethnic Danes: examining the role of socioeconomic position," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 56(5), pages 503-514, October.
    5. Österberg, Torun & Gustafsson, Björn, 2006. "Disability pension among immigrants in Sweden," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 805-816, August.
    6. Blight, Karin Johansson & Ekblad, Solvig & Persson, Jan-Olov & Ekberg, Jan, 2006. "Mental health, employment and gender. Cross-sectional evidence in a sample of refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina living in two Swedish regions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(7), pages 1697-1709, April.
    7. Chen, Joyce & Kosec, Katrina & Mueller, Valerie, 2019. "Moving to despair? Migration and well-being in Pakistan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 186-203.
    8. Signe Nielsen & Allan Krasnik, 2010. "Poorer self-perceived health among migrants and ethnic minorities versus the majority population in Europe: a systematic review," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 55(5), pages 357-371, October.
    9. Baron-Epel, Orna & Kaplan, Giora & Haviv-Messika, Amalia & Tarabeia, Jalal & Green, Manfred S. & Nitzan Kaluski, Dorit, 2005. "Self-reported health as a cultural health determinant in Arab and Jewish Israelis: MABAT--National Health and Nutrition Survey 1999-2001," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 1256-1266, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:55:y:2009:i:3:p:203-213. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.