[Who is rehospitalized in a psychiatric hospital? Psychiatric hospitalization rates and social indicators in the Zurich canton (Switzerland)].
There are two approaches in the research on the relation between social conditions and mental disorder: The ecological approach is concerned with characteristics of the social composition of a certain geographical area and their relation to the frequency of disorders, whereas for the individualistic view variables of the psychosocial background of the individual are of interest. This study is on the risk for psychiatric admission (first and re-admission). While considering variables of the social context of the community as well as of the background of the individual, it tries to take into account both the ecological and the individualistic view of the relationship between social conditions and (treated) mental disorder. The sample of the study includes data of 4021 psychiatric inpatients treated in 1997 in one of the seven psychiatric hospitals of the Swiss canton of Zurich as well as data of social context of the 171 communities of the canton of Zurich. The psychiatric first and re-admission rates of the community can be predicted by the following variables of its social context: 1. pro portion of foreigners, 2. urban character of the living area, 3. population density. Two other variables are of relevance only for the prediction of first admissions: 4. proportion of one-person households and 5. local tax rate. However, further results of the study show that correlations between variables of the social context and psychiatric admission rate of the community cannot be interpreted as risks for the individual.
Rüesch
P
P
Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik, Zürich. prue@bli.unizh.ch
Meyer
P C
PC
Hell
D
D
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013557:Switzerland