More Black People Are Diagnosed With Schizophrenia But Few Are Treated

The study, which was published by the Psychiatric Services journal, analyzed medical records of patients from the Mental Health Research Network.

One of the co-authors of the research, Ashli Owen-Smith who is an assistant professor at the Georgia State University, said, “It’s concerning that we saw a higher rate of diagnosis of schizophrenia and seemingly an undertreatment in terms of pharmacotherapy for that group.”

Since 2011, there has been over millions of patients that have been diagnosed with common psychiatric conditions such as depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, panic disorder, schizophrenia spectrum disorder and bipolar disorders. The rate at which African-Americans are associated with these disorders is twice that of Native Americans.

Additional results from the study include:

  • Native American/Alaskan Native patients had the highest rate of any diagnosis (20.6 percent)
  • Asian patients had the lowest rates of any diagnosis (7.5 percent)
  • Non-Hispanic white patients were significantly more likely (77.8 percent) than other racial-ethnic groups to receive medication
  • Only 34 percent of patients with a psychiatric diagnosis received formal psychotherapy
  • Racial-ethnic differences were most pronounced for depression and schizophrenia. Compared with whites, non-Hispanic blacks were more likely to receive formal psychotherapy for their depression or schizophrenia.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings filled two important gaps in the literature: first,
most population-based studies of psychiatric diagnosis rates
and treatment in the United States have been based on patient
self-report or providers’ reports on their practices and
not on objective sources such as EMRs; second, the studies
that have examined electronic sources of information have
done so in populations using subsidized health care. Our
study, in combination with other recently published work,
provides a more complete picture of
the differences among racial-ethnic groups in the United
States with respect to diagnosis and treatment of major
psychiatric conditions. Further research is necessary to
understand how patient preferences and provider practices
determine the differences we have reported.

Source:

Full research paper here:

Journal Article Source / Summary:

5 Likes

Realy?It terrible.
It‘s my first time to repeat,so It would be rude :stuck_out_tongue:

I guess but…

Never see it my clinic, but I’m from hick Iowa.