Race, schizophrenia, and admission to state psychiatric hospitals

Abstract

The relationships among race, diagnoses of schizophrenia, mood disorder, and admission to state psychiatric hospitals were examined in this study. Two hypotheses and two research questions represented these relationships. Data were analyzed from a sample of 2,311 individuals who had hospital admissions in Indiana during an 8-year period. In comparison with the general population, African Americans were found to be overrepresented among inpatients with diagnoses of schizophrenia. African Americans were four times more likely than White inpatients to receive a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Accountability tools to address issues of differential hospitalization rates and overdiagnosis of schizophrenia are discussed.