Inequalities in Psychiatric Service Use and Mortality by Migrant Status Following a First Diagnosis of Psychotic Disorder: A Swedish Cohort Study of 1.3M People

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 (1) mortality (including by major causes of death); (2) first admission type (inpatient or outpatient); (3) in-patient length of stay (LOS) at first diagnosis for psychotic disorder presentation, and; (4) 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 January 1, 1998, followed from their 14th birthday or arrival to Sweden, until death, emigration, or December 31, 2016. People with ICD-10 psychotic disorder (F20–33; N = 9399) were 6.7 (95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 5.9–7.6) times more likely to die than the general population, but this did not vary by migrant status ( P = .15) or region-of-origin ( P = .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 in-patient LOS at first diagnosis were observed by migrant status. Sub-Saharan African migrants with psychotic disorder were readmitted more quickly than their Swedish-born counterparts (adjusted sub-hazard ratio [sHR]: 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.