“The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of racial/ethnic identity to the amount and type of psychiatric treatment received by white, black, Latino, and Asian patients in the in the Los Angeles County mental health system. The patients studied consisted of all adult inpatients and outpatients seen in all county mental health facilities between January 1983 and August 1988…. Race/ethnicity did not have a consistent significant relationship to the treatment variables studied. However, diagnosis had a consistent and highly significant relationship to the treatment variables studied.”

“Lindsey and Paul (ref) contended that black patients are overrepresented among admissions to public institutions and that this is related to their lower socioeconomic status and to institutional racial bias in assigning treatment. Supporting their argument, an examination of black and white patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital by the police found that more black than white patients were admitted (ref). Black patients were more likely than white patients to receive neuroleptics, compulsory orders, outpatient appointments, and a diagnosis of schizophrenia and drug-induced psychosis. The differences found in clinical management were partially accounted for by differences in diagnosis.”

“There were significant relationships between racial/ethnic group and some treatment measures. Black race/ethnicity was significantly related to two treatment measures: number of sessions with the primary therapist and treatment modality. Compared with white patients, black patients had fewer sessions with their primary therapist and more treatment with medication. This latter finding is similar to the findings of Dunn and Fahy that blacks were more likely to receive neuroleptics than whites. They related this finding partially to diagnosis, noting that blacks received more diagnoses of schizophrenia than whites.”

“Asian race/ethnicity was significantly related to two measures of treatment: number of sessions with the primary therapist and setting of treatment. Compared with whites, Asians had more sessions with the primary therapist and were more often treated as outpatients.
Latino race/ethnicity in the present study was significantly related to only one measure of treatment: setting. Latinos were more often treated as outpatients than were whites.”