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Admission patterns by psychiatric trainees. Are women patients as likely as men to be admitted for major mental illness?

MRC Brain Metabolism Unit, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh EH10 5HF

Andrew M. McIntosh, Senior House Officer

Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh

Jonathan T. O. Cavanagh, Research Fellow

University Department of Psychiatry, Royal Edinburgh Hospital

AIMS AND METHODS

We hypothesised that the increased admission rate for men with major mental illness may be the result of men being preferentially admitted by psychiatrists. A questionnaire survey was devised and sent to all psychiatric trainees on the South-East Scotland rotation. The questionnaire contained a series of psychiatric vignettes representing conditions varying in severity of risk.

RESULTS

Seventy-eight per cent responded to the questionnaire. Trainees were more likely to admit patients representing a greater degree of risk irrespective of the gender of the patient.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

The increasing admission rates for men with major mental illness is unlikely to be due to admission bias by trainees.