Somali and Oromo refugee women: trauma and associated factors.
OBJECTIVE
This paper reports a study identifying the demographic characteristics, self-reported trauma and torture prevalence, and association of trauma experience and health and social problems among Somali and Oromo women refugees.


BACKGROUND
Nearly all refugees have experienced losses, and many have suffered multiple traumatic experiences, including torture. Their vulnerability to isolation is exacerbated by poverty, grief, and lack of education, literacy, and skills in the language of the receiving country.


METHODS
Using data from a cross-sectional population-based survey, conducted from July 1999 to September 2001, with 1134 Somali and Oromo refugees living in the United States of America, a sub-sample of female participants with clearly identified parenting status (n = 458) were analysed. Measures included demographics, history of trauma and torture, scales for physical, psychological, and social problems, and a post-traumatic stress symptom checklist.


RESULTS
Results indicated high overall trauma and torture exposure, and associated physical, social and psychological problems. Women with large families reported statistically significantly higher counts of reported trauma (mean 30, P < 0.001) and torture (mean 3, P < 0.001), and more associated problems (P < 0.001) than the other two groups. Women who reported higher levels of trauma and torture were also older (P < 0.001), had more family responsibilities, had less formal education (P < 0.001) and were less likely to speak English (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest a need for nurses, and especially public health nurses who work with refugee and immigrant populations in the community, to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the range of refugee women's experiences and the continuum of needs post-migration, particularly among older women with large family responsibilities. Nurses, with their holistic framework, are ideally suited to partner with refugee women to expand their health agenda beyond the biomedical model to promote healing and reconnection with families and communities.
Robertson
Cheryl Lee
CL
School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA. rober007@umn.edu
Halcon
Linda
L
Savik
Kay
K
Johnson
David
D
Spring
Marline
M
Butcher
James
J
Westermeyer
Joseph
J
Jaranson
James
J
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004522:Educational Status; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000208:ethnology; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008910:Minnesota; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012998:Somalia / Q000208:ethnology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000208:ethnology*; D014104:Torture / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data