Compulsory admission at first presentation to services for psychosis: does ethnicity still matter? Findings from two population-based studies of first episode psychosis

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Abstract

Objectives
Compared with the majority population, those from minority ethnic groups in the UK are more likely to be admitted compulsorily during a first episode of psychosis (FEP). We investigated whether these disparities in pathways in to care continue.

Methods
We analysed data from two first episode psychosis studies, conducted in the same geographical area in south London 15 years apart: the Aetiology and Ethnicity in Schizophrenia and Other Psychosis (AESOP) and the Clinical Record Interactive Search-First Episode Psychosis (CRIS-FEP) studies. The inclusion/exclusion criteria for case ascertainment for first episode psychosis were identical across the two studies. We performed multivariable logistic regression to estimate odds of compulsory admission by ethnic group, controlling for confounders.

Participants
Two hundred sixty-six patients with first episode psychosis, aged 18–64 years, who presented to mental health services in south London in 1997–1999 and 446 with FEP who presented in 2010–2012.

Results
When the two samples were compared, ethnic differences in compulsory admission appear to have remained the same for black African patients, i.e. three times higher than white British in both samples: AESOP (adj. OR = 3.96; 95% CI = 1.80–8.71) vs. CRIS-FEP (adj. OR = 3.12; 95% CI = 1.52–6.35). Black Caribbean patients were three times more likely to be compulsorily admitted in AESOP (adj. OR = 3.20; 95% CI = 1.56–6.54). This was lower in the CRIS-FEP sample (adj. OR = 1.68; 95% CI = 0.71–3.98) and did not meet conventional levels for statistical significance.

Conclusion
Ethnicity is strongly associated with compulsory admissions at first presentation for psychosis with evidence of heterogeneity across groups, which deserves further research.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)871-881
Number of pages11
JournalSocial Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Volume54
Issue number7
Early online date20 Mar 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Jul 2019

Keywords

  • African
  • Caribbean
  • Compulsory admission
  • Ethnicity
  • First episode psychosis
  • Pathways to care
  • Psychosis

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