Immigration and ethnic origin in mental illness.

Abstract

A retrospective study of the prevalence of serious mental disease in the southern half of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan was made. The total admissions to the area's Provincial Mental Hospital during the year 1957 were reviewed. A selection was made from the hospital files on the basis of migration and ethnic status. English, German and Ukrainian groups (with a further division into foreign-born and Canadian-born groups) who represented the largest ethnic components of the population were chosen. They were studied to determine the acceptability of four hypotheses. 1. That the ethnic components chosen have different general (social) characteristics on the basis of their derivation from different cultures. 2. That the ethnic components chosen present different forms of mental disease in the community. 3. That the foreign-born and Canadian-born groups have different general (social) characteristics on the basis of derivation from different cultures. 4. That the foreign-born and Canadian-born groups present different forms of mental disease in the community. The Chi square method was used to determine the significance of the groups of factors chosen for each hypothesis. Discussion of the results emphasizes that Hypotheses 3 and 4 should be accepted. The greatest single factor for the acceptance, however, is neither the migrant nor the ethnic status of the individual but rather age. The discussion includes a review of the possible reasons for the great significance of this factor rather than cultural and ecological difficulties mentioned in other papers.