Meghan Smith, BMSc '18, MSc Candidate
Meghan Smith
Project Title
Ethnic Variations in Psychiatric Hospitalizations
-Project supervised by Kelly Anderson, PhD and completed in 2018
Abstract
Background: Several sociodemographic factors have been identified as influences on mental health in Canada, and previous studies have seen that visible minorities have a different demand for mental health services than non-minorities.
Data and Methods: Data from the 2006 Census – Discharge Abstract Database linkage were analyzed using a modified Poisson Regression controlling for several identified sociodemographic covariates. Mental health hospitalization prevalence ratios were calculated and compared to non-minority respondents for each minority group identified in the 2006 Canadian Census.
Results: Filipino Canadians had a lower proportion of mental health hospitalizations, compared to White Canadians (PR=0.55; 95%CI = 0.31 to 0.98), while the proportion of mental health hospitalizations was 2.28 (95%CI = 1.30 to 4.01) times higher in West Asian Canadians, compared to White Canadians. This relationship stayed consistent when adjusting for different sociodemographic influences.
Conclusion: Overall, this study shows that Filipino Canadians have a lower demand for mental health hospitalizations than White Canadians, and West Asian Canadians have a higher demand for mental health hospitalizations than White Canadians. These results could help identify underlying causes of inequalities in mental health service use, and could identify beneficial specialized mental health initiatives.
About Meghan
Meghan Smith, BMSc '18, is currently an MSc Candidate in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, again supervised by Kelly Anderson, PhD.
