Stigmatization of Hispanic children, pre-adolescents, and adolescents with mental illness: exploration using a national database

Abstract

This paper examines descriptive statistics for the primary payer, length of stay, and admission source of an acute care hospitalization of Hispanic children--pre-adolescents, and adolescents with a primary psychiatric Diagnostic Related Group (DRG)--and relates these variables to the concept of stigma. This paper was a secondary analysis that used data from the National Inpatient Sample database. Psychosis was the most frequent diagnosis of Hispanic youth who were hospitalized. More Hispanic pre-adolescents had a psychiatric DRG than any other ethnic group but fewer Hispanic adolescents were diagnosed with a psychiatric DRG than any other ethnic group. For Hispanic pre-adolescents and adolescents, the primary payer was Medicaid versus private insurance for White pre-adolescents and adolescents. The length of stay was approximately the same for all ethnic groups. The admission source differed for Hispanic pre-adolescents and adolescents with the majority of pre-adolescents being admitted routinely and the majority of Hispanic adolescents being admitted through emergency departments. Recommendations are made for future research, clinical practice, and public policy related to the stigmatization of Hispanic children and adolescents with mental illness.