Racial Disparities during Admission to an Academic Psychiatric Hospital in a Large Urban Area

The existence of mental health disparities has been confirmed in multiple studies in which African Americans are less likely than non-Hispanic whites to receive needed mental health services. Research has consistently shown that African Americans are under-represented in outpatient mental health treatment settings and are over-represented in inpatient psychiatric settings. Further, African Americans are more likely to receive a diagnosis of schizophrenia and are less likely receive an affective disorder diagnosis during inpatient psychiatric hospitalization compared to non-Hispanic white patients, pointing to a need for examining factors contributing to mental health disparities in inpatient psychiatric settings.

Source: Comprehensive Psychiatry - September 3, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Jane E. Hamilton, Angela M. Heads, Raymond Y. Cho, Scott Lane, Jair C. Soares Source Type: research