Evaluating the Use of a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit: Is Ethnicity a Risk Factor for Admission?

Anthony Feinstein and Frank Holloway
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Anthony Feinstein: Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto; Department of Psychiatry, Room FG38, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA M4N 3M5 Tel: (416)480-4216; Fax: (416)480-4613; ant.feinstein@utoronto.ca
Frank Holloway: Westways Resource Centre and Health Services Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, de Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AX United Kingdom.

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2002, vol. 48, issue 1, 38-46

Abstract: Objective: This paper presents a descriptive study, undertaken in 1993, of a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) serving a deprived inner-city area, investigating the role of ethnicity as a risk factor for admission to the unit. Methods: Clinical and demographic data were collected on consecutive admission to a PICU. Global Assessment of Function Scale scores were rated on admission and at discharge from the unit. Results: The majority of patients were male (63%) and the commonest DSM-IV diagnoses were schizophrenia (42%) and bipolar affective disorder (24%). Average length of stay was 13 days with patients making significant improvement in functioning during their stay. Fifty-five percent of PICU admissions came from ethnic minorities (compared with 25.6% of total hospital admissions and 20.9% of the local catchment area population aged between 16 and 65 years). There was no evidence that ethnic minority patients were being inappropriately admitted to the PICU. Conclusions: It is likely that a variety of factors contributed to the high rate of PICU admission amongst ethnic minority patients, including an increased prevalence of major mental illness and more frequent cannabis abuse.

Date: 2002
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:48:y:2002:i:1:p:38-46

DOI: 10.1177/002076402128783073

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