Open AccessEthnic and Clinical Characteristics of a Portuguese Psychiatric Inpatient Population
Author(s) -
Joana Alexandre,
Raquel Ribeiro,
Graça Cardoso
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
transcultural psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.829
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1461-7471
pISSN - 1363-4615
DOI - 10.1177/1363461510369191
Subject(s) - ethnic group , portuguese , psychiatry , medicine , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , immigration , mental health , cape verde , population , white (mutation) , medical record , environmental health , geography , linguistics , philosophy , ethnology , biochemistry , chemistry , archaeology , radiology , sociology , anthropology , gene , history
The present study examined the association between ethnicity and clinical characteristics of patients admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit in Portugal. The only ethnicity-related terms routinely recorded in the medical records were "Black" (mainly from the African Portuguese-speaking countries of Cape Verde, Angola, Guinea, Sao Tome and Mozambique) and "White." Black immigrants appeared to be over-represented, comprising 19.6% of inpatients; and were younger and more frequently male when compared with White inpatients. They were more frequently diagnosed with schizophrenia and acute or transient psychosis, and less frequently diagnosed with delusional and personality disorders than White inpatients. These results are consistent with previous studies in the US and UK, and highlight the need for more culturally sensitive care in mental health services.
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