title: Incidence of schizophrenia in ethnic minorities in London: ecological study into interactions with environment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether the incidence of schizophrenia among people from non-white ethnic minorities is greater in neighbourhoods where they constitute a smaller proportion of the total population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ecological design including retrospective study of case records to calculate the incidence of schizophrenia in the ethnic minority population across electoral wards and multi-level analysis to examine interaction between individuals and environment.
  
  
  METHODS
  15 electoral wards in Camberwell, South London.
  
  
  METHODS
  All people aged 16 years and over who had contact with psychiatric services during 1988-97.
  
  
  METHODS
  Incidence rates of schizophrenia according to Research Diagnostic Criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of schizophrenia in non-white ethnic minorities increased significantly as the proportion of such minorities in the local population fell. The incidence rate ratio varied in a dose-response fashion from 2.38 (95% confidence interval 1.49 to 3.79) in the third of wards where non-white ethnic minorities formed the largest proportion (28-57%) of the local population to 4.4 (2.49 to 7.75) in the third of wards where they formed the smallest proportion (8-22%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The incidence of schizophrenia in non-white ethnic minorities in London is greater when they comprise a smaller proportion of the local population.
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychiological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Denmark Hill, London, UK. j.kelly@iop.kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boydell
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Os
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McKenzie
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Allardyce
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Goel
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: McCreadie
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Murray
mesh_terms: D005006:Ethnicity; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D008913:Minority Groups; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology