Ethnic Variations in Pathways to Acute Care and Compulsory Detention for Women Experiencing a Mental Health Crisis

This study explored ethnic variations in compulsory detentions of women & the potential role of immediate pathways to admission & clinician-rated reasons for admission as mediators of these differences. All women admitted to an acute psychiatric inpatient ward or a women’s crisis house in 4 London boroughs during a 12-week period were included. Adjusting for social & clinical characteristics, all groups of black patients & white other patients were significantly more likely to have been compulsorily admitted than white British patients. White British patients were more likely than other groups to be admitted to a crisis house & more likely than all the black groups to be admitted because of perceived suicide risk. (34 refs.) JA