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The association between ethnic background and characteristics of first mental health treatment for psychotic disorders in the Netherlands between 2001 and 2005

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Abstract

Purpose

To test the hypothesis that ethnic minority status of patients is associated with specific psychotic disorder treatment characteristics.

Methods

Longitudinal data (2001–2005) were extracted from a nationwide psychiatric case register in the Netherlands. The sample consisted of 30,655 episodes of mental health treatment for 23,122 patients with psychotic disorders. Information was available about waiting time and treatment duration, source of referral, occurrence of crisis contacts, admittance to clinical care and compulsory admissions. In addition, information was available about ethnicity (based on country of birth), gender, age and marital status. Results were calculated for ethnic and gender groups separately. In addition, a number of multivariate regression analyses were conducted to correct for differences in age and marital status.

Results

There was substantial variation between ethnic minority and gender groups in relation to the treatment characteristics. Compared with a Dutch ethnic background, ethnic minority background was generally associated with less waiting time, and more police referrals, crisis contacts, admittance to clinical care and compulsory admission, but shorter treatment duration. Characteristics appeared to be least favorable in episodes that involved male patients with Antillean and Surinamese backgrounds, whereas episodes were quite similar for ethnic Dutch and Turkish patients.

Conclusions

Characteristics of mental health treatment for psychosis in the Netherlands are different for ethnic minority patient groups than for patients with an ethnic Dutch background. However, there were substantial differences between ethnic minority groups.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Dutch Mental Healthcare Association (GGZ Nederland) for granting access to the ZORGIS database. In addition, the authors thank the reviewers, whose comments helped improve the original manuscript. Finally, the authors would like to thank Daan Uitenbroek for his statistical advice and Anita Wilkinson for checking the manuscript. On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Mental Health Care (MGGZ), Public Health Service Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 100, P.O. Box 2200, 1000 CE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    T. Fassaert

  2. Heijnen Organisatieadviseurs, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    H. Heijnen

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, Public Health Service Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    M. A. S. de Wit

  4. Arkin, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    J. Peen & J. Dekker

  5. Department of Psychiatry, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    A. T. F. Beekman

  6. GGZ inGeest, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    A. T. F. Beekman

  7. Department of Clinical Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    J. Dekker

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  1. T. Fassaert
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  2. H. Heijnen
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  3. M. A. S. de Wit
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  4. J. Peen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to T. Fassaert.

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Fassaert, T., Heijnen, H., de Wit, M.A.S. et al. The association between ethnic background and characteristics of first mental health treatment for psychotic disorders in the Netherlands between 2001 and 2005. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 51, 1591–1601 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1248-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1248-x

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