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.