The Prevalence of Mental Disorders Among Saskatchewan Indians

Abstract

Indian communities in Saskatchewan are undergoing social changes as a result of rapid growth in populations and a closer contact with the non-Indian communities. The effect of such changes may be reflected in the nature and extent of the mental health problems among the Indian populations. This paper is an attempt to understand such problems in Saskatchewan. Analysis of hospital first-admission statistics at the North Battleford psychiatric institution, for the period from 1961 to 1966, showed that the Indian sample contained significantly higher numbers of schizophrenics and epileptics. These findings prompted an active case-finding survey for the first time in Canada in an arbitrarily defined geographical area which contained 18 rural municipalities (non-Indian) and ten Indian reserves. Analysis of the data revealed that the prevalence of mental disorder was significantly higher in the Indian communities. Furthermore, the Indian sample contained significantly higher numbers of schizophrenics and mental retardates. Findings are discussed in terms of relevance to future cross-cultural psychiatric research and methodological problems.