Evaluating the use of a psychiatric intensive care unit: is ethnicity a risk factor for admission?
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 admissions 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.
Feinstein
Anthony
A
Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ant.feinstein@utoronto.ca
Holloway
Frank
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000208:ethnology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011204:Poverty Areas; D015995:Prevalence; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population