title: [Immigration, trauma, living difficulties and psychopathology: a preliminary study in a primary care setting].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Investigate the prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression and somatizations in a sample of immigrants visited in a transcultural primary care service. The relationship among psychopathological symptoms, pre-migratory events and post-migration living difficulties is also considered.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 101 outpatients, attending the "Caritas" Primary Care Unit for immigrants in Rome. All participants fulfilled a socio-demographic questionnaire, a checklist of traumatic events (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire, HTQ), a checklist of post-migration living difficulties (Post-Migration Living Difficulties, PMLD) and the following questionnaires: the HTQ for the assessment of post-traumatic symptoms, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-25) for anxiety and depression, the Bredford Somatic Inventory (BSI) for somatization.
  
  
  RESULTS
  40 patients (39.60%) had an anxiety disorder, 47 (46.13%) a depressive disorder, 16 (15.84%) a PTSD and 39 (38,6%) a somatization syndrome. All these syndromes were significantly correlated. The number of traumatic events and of post-migration difficulties significantly increased the scores on the psychopathological scales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of psychopathological syndromes in our primary care transcultural unit was high. This not only in refugees, but also in immigrants for other reasons. Moreover, the levels of psychopathological distress were significantly influenced by the number of pre-migratory traumas and of living difficulties in the host country.
authors.affiliation: Progetto Ferite Invisibili, Area Sanitaria Caritas, Roma.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carrer
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Meuti
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Catino
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pucci
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lafuente
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Colosimo
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aragona
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazzetti
authors.forename: Bianca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maisano
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Geraci
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D055815:Young Adult