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.