Psychiatric Admissions from North London Related to Demographic and Ecological Characteristics
ALEX G. MEZEY M.D., F.R.C.P.(E.), D.P.M.1 and
EILEEN EVANS M.B., D.C.H., D.P.M.2
1 Consultant in Psychological Medicine, North Middlesex Hospital, London, N.18
2 Research Senior Registrar, North Middlesex Hospital, London, N.18
Hospital admissions for mental disorder from three boroughs in North London were recorded during a twelve-month period and compared with demographic and ecological characteristics of the three areas. All three boroughs were served by the same hospitals and the same local authority. There were marked differences between the three boroughs. Significantly higher admission rates for mental disorder were found in the borough which had a declining population and the highest percentage of the elderly, of the single and the 'previously-married', of low socio-economic groups, of population mobility, of people born outside the United Kingdom, of one-person house-holds and of poor housing conditions. The implications of these findings for the planning of psychiatric services are discussed.
Submitted on March 31, 1969
