Essex, Ryan ORCID: 0000-0003-3497-3137 , Govintharajah, Poonkulali, Issa, Rita, Kalocsanyiova, Erika ORCID: 0000-0002-3535-1084 , Lakika, Dostin, Markowski, Marianne ORCID: 0000-0003-4652-3168 , Smith, James and Thompson, Trevor ORCID: 0000-0001-9880-782X (2024) Health related quality of life amongst refugees: a meta analysis of studies using the SF-36. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. ISSN 1557-1912 (Print), 1557-1920 (Online) (In Press)

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Abstract

Introduction: The health of refugees has been widely documented, as has the impact of a range of factors throughout the migration journey from being exposed to violence to the impacts of immigration detention. This study adds to our understanding of health-related quality of life amongst refugees and asylum seekers by evaluating health-related quality of life as measured by the Short-Form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey using meta-analysis. The aims of this study were to 1) provide a summary and overview of health-related quality of life (as measured by the SF-36), including the extent to which this varies and 2) explore the factors that influence health-related quality of life (as measured by the SF-36) amongst refugees and asylum seekers.
Methods: A search was undertaken of MEDLINE, CINAHL, PSYCINFO and SCOPUS, returning 1020 results. Papers were included if they sampled refugees (or asylum seeker or those with refugee-like experiences) and used the SF-36 (or its variants) as an outcome measure. Mean scores and standard deviations were pooled using a random effects model.
Results: The pooled sample size was 18,418. The pooled mean scores for the SF-36 physical summary measures was 54.99 (95% CI 46.01-63.99), while the mental health summary measure was 52.39 (95% CI 43.35-61.43). The pooled mean scores for each of the sub-scales ranged from 49.6 (vitality) to 65.54 (physical functioning). High heterogeneity was found between both summary measures and all sub-scales.
Conclusion: In comparison to SF-36 results from general populations in high and middle income countries, these results suggest that refugee quality of life is generally poorer. However, this varied substantially between studies. One issue that is not well clarified by this review are the factors that contributed to health-related quality of life.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	refugee; asylum seeker; quality of life; health; meta analysis
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Chronic Illness and Ageing Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Inequalities Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Mental Health Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Professional Workforce Development Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Health Sciences (HEA) Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Human Sciences (HUM)
Last Modified:	21 Jun 2024 08:34
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/47492

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