Expulsion from the Motherland: Association between Depression & Health-Related Quality of Life for Ethnic Rohingya Living with Refugee Status in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: The Rohingyas are an ethnic minority group from Myanmar who have experienced severe forms of violence such as murder, rape, humanitarian defilement and forcible expellation from their motherland. Exposure to trauma has a long-lasting impact on psychological well-being and Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL). OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of depression and association with HRQoL for Rohingya displaced persons. METHODOLOGY: This was a prospective, cross-sectional study in two refugee camps in Southern Bangladesh, with a structured and language validated questionnaire. RESULTS: The study indicates the prevalence of depression was 70% (n=150 respondents), with 8.7% reporting “severe depression” in PHQ-9. WHOQOL-BREF scores were inversely associated with symptoms on the depression scale with a strong and significant correlation (r= 0.652; p<0.01) in total and physical health; psychological (r= 0.757, p<0.01), social relationship (r= 0.479, p<0.01), environment (r= 0.443, p<0.01), increasing age (r= 0.272, p<0.01), severity of depression (r= 0.489, p<0.01). Furthermore, there was a statistically significant correlation with overall quality of life with same variables subsequently (r =0.600, 0.309, 0.482, 0.170, 0.103, 0.272, 0.339; p<0.01), also correlation was observed between married individuals and severity of depression in PHQ (r= 0.346), physical state (r= 0.353), psychological state (r= 0.358), and with social relationship (r= 0.435), with statistical significance (p= <0.01). CONCLUSION: There are higher incidence rates of moderate to severe depression than the population norms and low health-related quality of life than published population norms for Rohingya displaced persons living in refugee camps. Depression rates were inversely associated with HRQoL for Rohingya displaced persons living in refugee camps. Future research may consider the prevention of related medical issues for long term program implementation.