Diagnosis and pharmacotherapy issues in the care of Hispanics in the public sector

Abstract

Clinical data from 1,752 ambulatory patients treated at five public mental health clinics were used to test hypotheses concerning the diagnoses and psychopharmacotherapy of Hispanic patients compared with Anglos and blacks. Hispanics were less likely than the other two groups to be labeled schizophrenic but more likely to be diagnosed as having other mental illnesses. Hispanics were less likely to receive medication than the other two groups. However, when pharmacotherapy was used there were no significant differences among groups in the number of medications prescribed. There were no differences among the groups in the doses prescribed.

Racial factors in mental health service utilization.

“…Moreover, minorities and individuals from lower socioeconomic classes, which are usually associated with being black, are more often diagnosed as having the more severe mental disorders (Bulhan, 1985). Blacks are more commonly diagnosed as schizophrenic or psychotic, whereas whites are more likely to receive a diagnosis of personality disorder or a transient situational disturbance or psychotic depressive disorders (Sue, 1977; Lawson, 1986; Adams, Dworkin, & Rosenberg, 1984; Jones & Gray, 1986; Bulhan, 1985).…”