The Role of Afro-Canadian Status in Police or Ambulance Referral to Emergency Psychiatric Services

OBJECTIVE: This study tested the hypothesis that among patients admitted to a hospital with psychosis, Afro-Canadian patients would be more likely than Euro-Canadian or Asian-Canadian patients to be brought to emergency services by police or ambulance. METHODS: Data on psychotic patients admitted to the psychiatry ward in 1999 were extracted from records of a general hospital in Montreal. Logistic regression models examined the relationship between being Afro-Canadian and being brought to the emergency service by police or ambulance, while controlling for age, gender, marital status, and number of psychotic symptoms. RESULTS: Of the 351 patients with psychosis, 59 percent were Euro-Canadian, 11 percent were Afro-Canadian, and 18 percent were Asian Canadian. Most Afro-Canadian patients in the study were immigrants from the Caribbean and Africa. Being Afro-Canadian was independently and positively associated with police or ambulance referral to emergency services. CONCLUSIONS: Afro-Canadians admitted to the hospital with psychosis are overrepresented in police and ambulance referrals to emergency psychiatric services.