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First episodes of psychosis in Afro-Caribbean and White people

An 18-year follow-up population-based study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Noriyoshi Takei ,
Rajendra Persaud ,
Peter Woodruff ,
Ian F. Brockington  and
Robin M. Murray
Noriyoshi Takei*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Rajendra Persaud
Affiliation:
Westways Rehabilitation Unit, West Croydon, Surrey
Peter Woodruff
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Ian F. Brockington
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital, Birmingham
Robin M. Murray
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
Dr Noriyoshi Takei. Department of Psychological Medicine. Institute of Psychiatry, Denmark Hill. London. SE5 8AF. Fax: 0171-701-9044; e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Background

There have been few prospective studies of the long-term outcome of psychosis in people of Afro-Caribbean origin in the UK.

Method

We followed-up a population-based, consecutive series of 34 Afro-Caribbean and 54 White people with psychosis who had been extensively investigated during their first admission in 1973/74. Diagnoses were made by direct interview using the Present State Examination at both first admission and follow-up.

Results

Ninety-seven per cent of the original sample were traced. A slightly greater proportion of the Afro-Caribbean people were assigned to the S+ Catego class (schizophrenia), both on first assessment and at follow-up. No difference was found between the two groups in the consistency of diagnosis over the 18 years or in the proportion of patients considered psychotic but Afro-Caribbean people tended to have fewer negative symptoms at follow-up. There were striking differences between the two groups in their experience of psychiatric care; Afro-Caribbean people were more likely to have been readmitted, to have experienced longer hospitalisations, and to have undergone more involuntary admissions than their White counterparts.

Conclusions

Afro-Caribbean people who met clinical and research criteria for schizophrenia had a less satisfactory experience of, and response to, psychiatric care over 18 years than their White counterparts.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 172 , Issue 2 , February 1998 , pp. 147 - 153
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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