Suchergebnisse

Introduction: In the last years migration has become a major political and social concern in West-Europe. Some researchesindicate that immigrants are more prone to certain psychiatric disorders, while other show the "immigrant paradox".Data about immigrants' admission to acute psychiatry settings and substances and alcohol use-related considerations are still controversial. Aims: To evaluate data about immigrants' admission to the acute Italian Psychiatry Ward of Hospital of Novara, focusing on substances and alcohol. Methods: The study was performed from January to December 2017, without any exclusion criteria. The final database contains detailed information including diagnostic treatment-related and sociodemographic characteristics. The sample was divided into two subgroups: immigrants with (SAU) or without a history of substances or alcohol abuse (N-SAA). Each patient was assessed with the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales and the Clinical Global Impression. Results: Of the total of 71 immigrants (mean age 37.95 years), 34 were female.49.3% of them with SAU. Specifically, immigrants with SAU seemed to have a shorter hospital stayand to obtain higher scores on the subscale "behavior" and "social" of HONOS(p<0.05). Differences in the use of antidepressants and atypical antipsychotics were showed. Conclusion: From our study resulted that immigrants are more prone to develop addictive behavior, maybe due to stress related to the migration, without information on the causality of relationship.This issue needs to be expanded in order to possibly align psychiatric services to the needs of immigrant patients.

The aim of this study was to compare migrants and native Italians on the pathways to care and results of psychiatric consultation (PC) in the emergency department (ED). Patients who were referred from the ED for psychiatric consultation (EDPC) at the Maggiore della Carità Hospital between March 2008 and March 2015 were recruited consecutively. Socio-demographic, clinical and consultation variables were recorded along with information about suicidal behaviours; migrants ( n = 379; 42.74% males, 57.26% females; age: 45.38 ± 16.95 years) were compared with native Italians ( n = 2942; 43.51% males, 56.49% females; age: 42.08 ± 15.89 years). Migrants were younger, more likely to be unemployed and less likely to be already under the care of a psychiatrist. Symptoms related to use of alcohol or substances were more frequent in migrants, especially female migrants. Migrants were less likely than native Italians to be referred for PC because of the presence of psychiatric symptoms, however they were more likely to be referred because of self-harming behaviour. Nonetheless, migrant status was not identified as a risk factor for suicidal behaviour in the multivariate analysis. The outcome of EDPC showed differences between migrants and natives. In absolute terms migrants were less likely to be admitted to a psychiatric ward after the EDPC than native Italians, while they were more likely to be monitored in the ED before being discharged or referred to outpatient care. In a high percentage of psychiatric examinations of migrants, no psychiatric symptoms were identified. Further studies are warranted to disentangle the meaning of these findings.