Ethnic Differences in Clinical Presentation at First Hospitalization After Psychosis Onset
Poster A82, Monday, October%208, 11:30%20am%20-%201:00%20pm, Essex%20Ballroom
Kelly K. Anderson1,2,3, Rebecca Rodrigues1, Arlene G. MacDougall1,2; 1Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, The University of Western Ontario, 2Department of Psychiatry, The University of Western Ontario, 3Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences
Objectives: Some ethnic minority groups have an increased risk of developing a psychotic disorder, and often face negative and coercive pathways to care. However, it is less clear whether there are also ethnic differences in clinical presentation. Our objective was to assess whether there were differences across first-generation ethnic minority groups in clinical presentation at the first psychiatric hospitalization after psychosis onset. Methods: We constructed a retrospective cohort of incident cases of non-affective psychosis occurring in Ontario between 2009 and 2016 using health administrative data. We followed this cohort for two-years and extracted data from the first psychiatric hospitalization record. The cohort was linked to data from Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada to ascertain migrant status and country of origin, and we compared symptoms, behaviour, and level of functioning between migrant groups and a general population comparison group. Results: Migrants from the Caribbean, South Asia, East Asia, and Africa had more positive symptoms and fewer depressive symptoms, relative to the general population. Caribbean migrants were more likely to be perceived as a risk to others and had higher ratings on the aggressive behavior scale. All migrant groups had a lower prevalence of alcohol and substance use at first admission. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that some first-generation migrant groups may differ in clinical presentation at the first hospitalization after psychosis onset. It is unknown whether the observed differences are due to delayed help-seeking, the perception of service providers, or true differences in clinical presentation across ethnic minority groups.
Topic Area: First Episode Psychosis