Abstract
It is unclear whether inequalities in mental healthcare and mortality following the onset of psychosis exist by migrant status and region-of-origin. We investigated whether (i) mortality (including by major causes of death); (ii) admission type (in- or out-patient), and; (iii) in-patient length of stay at first diagnosis for psychotic disorder presentation, and; (iv) time-to-readmission for psychotic disorder differed for refugees, non-refugee migrants and by region-of-origin. We established a cohort of 1,335,192 people born 1984-1997 and living in Sweden from 1st January 1998, followed from their 14 th birthday or arrival to Sweden, until death, emigration, or 31 December 2016.People with ICD-10 psychotic disorder (F20-33; N=9,399) were 6.7 (95%CI: 5.9-7.6) times more likely to die than the general population, but this did not vary by migrant status (p=0.15) or region-of-origin (p=0.31). This mortality gap was most pronounced for suicide (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]: 12.2; 95% CI: 10.4-14.4), but persisted for deaths from other external (aHR: 5.1; 95%CI: 4.0-6.4) and natural causes (aHR: 2.3; 95%CI: 1.6-3.3). Non-refugee (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.4, 95%CI: 1.2-1.6) and refugee migrants (aOR: 1.4, 95%CI: 1.1-1.8) were more likely to receive inpatient care at first diagnosis. No differences in inpatient length of stay at first diagnosis were observed. Sub-Saharan African migrants with psychotic disorder were readmitted more quickly than their Swedish-born counterparts (adjusted sub-HR: 1.2; 95%CI: 1.1-1.4). Our findings highlight the need to understand the drivers of disparities in psychosis treatment and the mortality gap experienced by all people with disorder, irrespective of migrant status or region-of-origin.
Perspectives on a psychiatric outpatient service for immigrants and refugees in São Paulo, Brazil over a 15-year period
