title: Psychiatric treatment needs among the medically underserved: a study of black and white primary care patients residing in a racial minority neighborhood.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Racial disparities in psychiatric treatment are well documented. A growing body of research demonstrates that residing in a racial minority neighborhood adversely affects access to health care and may in part account for psychiatric treatment disparities. The study objective is to determine the role of race in psychiatric treatment disparities among blacks and whites residing in a racial minority neighborhood.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic sample of black (n = 345) and white (n = 57) patients from a primary care clinic in a racial minority neighborhood in northern Manhattan, New York, was analyzed. Logistic regression models were utilized to assess the effect of race on psychiatric treatment. The study was conducted during 1998-1999 and 2001-2003.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Blacks were less likely than whites to have a lifetime psychiatric disorder (OR = 0.17; 95% CI, 0.06-0.53). Among patients with a current psychiatric disorder, there were no significant black-white differences in psychiatric treatment (OR = 0.72; 95% CI, 0.21-2.49). Yet, there were significant and substantial differences among patients without a current psychiatric disorder, with blacks less likely to receive psychiatric treatment than whites (OR = 0.09; 95% CI, 0.04-0.21).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study findings suggest that neighborhood residence moderates the relationship between race and psychiatric treatment. Black and white primary care patients with a current disorder residing in this racial minority neighborhood had similar rates of psychiatric treatment. Yet, whites, who were the minority in the clinic and the neighborhood from which the clinic draws patients, appear to have more chronic psychiatric problems for which they are receiving treatment. Primary care clinics can serve as a vital tool in addressing the persistent disparities in psychiatric treatment and the psychiatric conditions among whites residing in racial minority neighborhoods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health. azuret@rci.rutgers.edu
authors.forename: Azure B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Olveen
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Carrasquillo
authors.forename: Marc J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gameroff
authors.forename: Myrna M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Weissman