title: Perceived ethnicity and the risk of compulsory admission.
abstract: Black-Caribbean patients are more often admitted compulsorily to psychiatric wards than patients from other ethnic groups. We tested the hypothesis that perceived ethnicity of a patient had no independent effect on the risk of compulsory admission. For all consecutive admissions over a 6-month period to acute psychiatric wards in Nottingham, medical officers responsible for the decision to admit completed a questionnaire recording clinical details of the patients and reasons for admission. The results showed that 43.2% of Black-Caribbean patients and 18.8% of White patients were admitted compulsorily (unadjusted odds ratio 3.29, 95% CI 1.71-6.33). Perceived ethnicity (Black-Caribbean) was significantly associated with being young, receiving a diagnosis of psychosis, and being perceived to be at a risk of violent acting out. A forced entry logistic regression model was used to adjust for hypothesised confounding variables such as age, sex, diagnosis, risk, socio-economic status and level of social support. A diagnosis of psychosis, risk of committing violence and being Black-Caribbean had independent effects on the risk of being compulsorily detained. The odds ratio for compulsory detention of Black-Caribbean patients was 2.16 (95% CI 1.03-4.52) after adjusting for the hypothesised confounding variables.
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Psychiatry, University of Nottingham, UK.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Croudace
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Harrison
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D044383:Black People; D017691:Caribbean Region / Q000208:ethnology; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003657:Decision Making; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000208:ethnology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012938:Social Perception