The mental health status of Mayan refugees after repatriation to Guatemala.

Objective: Only one previous study had examined the epidemiology of mental health in Guatemalan refugees. The objective of this new study was to estimate the prevalence of mental illness and to assess factors associated with poor mental health among Guatemalan Mayan refugees who had been repatriated to Guatemala after spending 12-18 years in refugee camps in Mexico, and to compare the results for the repatriated Guatemalans with those for Guatemalan refugees who were continuing to live in Mexico.

Methods: In 2001 a cross-sectional survey of adults (> or = 16 years) was conducted with random household sampling proportional to the population size in each of the five repatriation villages surveyed.

Factors associated with poor mental health among Guatemalan refugees living in Mexico 20 years after civil conflict.

Context: From 1981 to 2001, 46 000 refugees who fled the 36-year civil conflict in Guatemala for Chiapas, Mexico were under the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of mental illness and factors associated with poor mental health of underserved Guatemalan refugee communities located in Chiapas, Mexico, since 1981 and to assess need for mental health services.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Cross-sectional survey of 183 households in 5 Mayan refugee camps in Chiapas representing an estimated 1546 residents (adults and children) conducted November-December 2000.