Mental Health among Afghan Refugees Settled in Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the mental health of Afghan refugees settled in Shiraz, the capital of a southern province of Iran. They were mostly refugees from Afghanistan by reason of internal war during the last two decades. A version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ–28) in Persian was administered on a group of randomly selected Afghan refugees ( n = 81) from a pool of Afghan residents in the Shiraz district. 34.5% of the subjects scored high enough to be considered as having psychiatric problems. There was a significant positive correlation between refugees' years of age and GHQ–28 factor scores, i.e., Physical Health and Social Functioning. The mental health of the subjects was not related to education or marital status. The years of settling in Iran were not significantly correlated with any GHQ–28 indices. The overall findings suggest that the rate of psychiatric problems in the refugees is higher than in the native population.