The Danish Trauma Database for Refugees (DTD): A Multicenter Database Collaboration—Overcoming the Challenges and Enhancing Mental Health Treatment and Research for Refugees

Marie Høgh Thøgersen (), Line Bager, Sofie Grimshave Bangsgaard, Sabina Palic, Mikkel Auning-Hansen, Stine Bjerrum Møller, Kirstine Bruun Larsen, Louise Tækker, Bo Søndergaard Jensen, Søren Bothe and Linda Nordin
Additional contact information
Marie Høgh Thøgersen: The Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Line Bager: The Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Sofie Grimshave Bangsgaard: The Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Sabina Palic: The Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Mikkel Auning-Hansen: The Rehabilitation Center for Trauma Survivors (RCT), 6100 Haderslev, Denmark
Stine Bjerrum Møller: The Clinics for Trauma and Torture Survivors (ATT), 7100 Vejle, Denmark
Kirstine Bruun Larsen: The Rehabilitation Center for Refugees (RCF), 9000 Ålborg, Denmark
Louise Tækker: Privat Treatment Center for Traumatized Refugees and Their Families, (OASIS), 1164 Copenhagen, Denmark
Bo Søndergaard Jensen: The PTSD and Anxiety Clinic, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus, Denmark
Søren Bothe: The Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Linda Nordin: The Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY), 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 16, 1-16

Abstract: Mental health of trauma-affected refugees is an understudied area, resulting in inadequate and poorer treatment outcomes. To address this, more high-quality treatment studies that include predictive analyses, long-term evaluations, cultural adaptations, and take account for comorbidities, are needed. Moreover, given the complex intertwining of refugees’ health with post-migration stressors and other social factors, it is crucial to examine the social determinants of refugee mental health. The Danish Trauma Database for Refugees (DTD) is a multicenter research database uniting six national centers that provide outpatient treatment for trauma-affected refugees. Through the database, we collect clinical and sociodemographic data from approximately 1200 refugees annually and will merge the database with Danish population register data. The purpose of the DTD is two-fold; clinical and research. The DTD offers data-driven guidance for routine clinical treatment planning of the individual patient, as well as exceptional research opportunities for testing treatment interventions in clinical settings, with larger sample sizes, and more representative heterogeneity of the population. Complex analyses of risk and protective factors, barriers, access to treatment, and societal and transgenerational aspects of trauma are possible with the DTD. This conceptual paper introduces the DTD, the historical background, the development process and implementation strategy, and the associated challenges with developing and running a multicenter database. Most importantly, it highlights the clinical and research potential of the DTD for advancing the understanding and treatment of trauma-affected refugees.

Keywords: database; DTD; multicenter research; refugees; trauma; PTSD; treatment; migration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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