Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-qxdb6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T00:54:38.662Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Use of psychometric tests in an acute psychiatric department according to ethnicity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2009

John E. Berg  and
Valentina C. Iversen
John E. Berg*
Affiliation:
Senior Consultant in Psychiatry, Department of Acute Psychiatry, Lovisenberg Deaconal Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Valentina C. Iversen
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor/Research consultant, St. Olavs Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Østmarka University Hospital, Department of Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
*
Correspondence to: Dr J.E. Berg, Blakstad Hospital, PO Box 83, 1309 Rud, Norway. E-mail: john@pong.no
Get access

Abstract

The diagnostic process after referral to an acute psychiatric treatment facility consists of more than the clinical investigation and laboratory tests. Psychometric tests in a broad range of languages may be such an augmentation of our diagnostic armamentarium, especially for immigrants for whom oral understanding of a dialogue may be restricted. The aim of this study was to discover whether such tests are in use, and how they are distributed among different patient categories. All referrals in one calendar year (N = 1168), as they are depicted in the hospital computerized medical records, were investigated. Fifty-six (6.1%) out of 926 ethnic Norwegians and six (3.0%) out of 198 non-Western immigrants were tested, whereas none of the 44 Western immigrants were. The difference between ethnic Norwegians and the immigrants was significant (Z = −3.05 and p = 0.002). Psychometric tests were thus almost not in use, and even less so in immigrants.

The mean number of resident days was higher among those tested, 11.7 (SD = 11.2), versus those not tested, 7.4 (SD = 10.4) days (t = 2.97 and p = 0.004). Among those tested, length of stay was not significantly different; 11.4 and 11.7 days respectively. The patients tested were older than those not tested. Mean age was 43.0 (SD = 14.4) versus 38.8 (SD = 12.1), with t = 2.65 and p = 0.03. Ethnic Norwegians had the longest mean stay, followed by Western immigrants and non-Western immigrants. The difference in resident days between all immigrants and ethnic Norwegians was significant with Z  =  −2.232 and p = 0.026. There was no such difference between Western and non-Western immigrants: Z = −0.057 and p = 0.95. The level of testing was higher in ethnic Norwegians, and the tested patients stayed longer, maybe indicating more time for testing. Whether this low test activity influences treatment quality is an unsettled question.

Keywords

Acute psychiatryassessmentpsychometric testsethnicityimmigrantstreatment decisions
Type
Original Article
Information
Journal of Psychiatric Intensive Care , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , December 2009 , pp. 99 - 105
Copyright
Copyright © NAPICU 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersen, S. and Berg, J.E. (2001) The use of a sense of coherence test to predict drop-out and mortality after residential treatment of substance abuse. Addiction Research and Theory. 9: 239–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Antonovsky, A. (1993) The structure and properties of the sense of coherence scale. Social Science and Medicine. 36: 725–733.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beals, J., Novins, D.K.et al. (2004) Challenges in operationalizing the DSM-IV clinical significance criterion. Archives of General Psychiatry. 61: 1197–1207.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beck, A.T., Brown, G., Berchick, R.J., Stewart, B.L. and Steer, R.A. (1990) Relationship between hopelessness and ultimate suicide: A replication with psychiatric outpatients. American Journal of Psychiatry. 147: 190–195.Google ScholarPubMed
Berg, J.E. and Andersen, S. (2001) Mortality 5 years after detoxification and counseling as indicated by psychometric tests. Substance Abuse 22(1): 1–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berg, J.E. and Johnsen, E. (2004) Innlegges innvandrere oftere enn etniske nordmenn i akuttpsykiatriske avdelinger? (Are non-Western immigrants referred to acute psychiatric care units more often than ethnic Norwegians?) Tidsskrift for Den norske Lægeforening. 124: 634–636.Google Scholar
Berk, M.S., Jeglic, E., Brown, G.K., Henriques, G.R. and Beck, A.T. (2007) Characteristics of recent suicide attempters with and without borderline personality disorder. Archives Suicide Research 11: 91–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bjertnæs, M. (2000) Immigration and immigrants 2000. S. Norway. Oslo. Statistics Norway. 1: 10–11.Google Scholar
Cochrane-Brink, K.A., Lofchy, J.S. and Sakinofsky, I. (2000) Clinical rating scales in suicide risk assessment. General Hospital Psychiatry. 22(6): 445–451.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ehring, T., Kleim, B., Clark, D.M., Foa, E.B. and Ehlers, A. (2007) Screening for posttraumatic stress disorder: What combination of symptoms predicts best? Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 195: 1004–1012.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gastao, L., Soares-Filho, F.et al. (2009) Use of the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) in a cardiac emergency room - chest pain unit. Clinics. 64: 209–214.Google Scholar
Iversen, V.C. and Morken, G. (2003) Acute admission among immigrants and asylum seekers to a psychiatric hospital in Norway. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 38: 515–519.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larsen, T.K., Johannessen, J.O. and Opjordsmoen, S. (1998) First-episode schizophrenia with long duration of untreated psychosis. Pathways to care. British Journal of Psychiatry. 172(suppl 33): 45–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larsen, T.K., McGlashan, T.H.et al. (2001) Shortened duration of untreated first episode of psychosis: Changes in patient characteristics at treatment. American Journal of Psychiatry. 158: 1917–1919.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lichtenberger, E. (2006) Computer utilization and clinical judgment in psychological assessment reports. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 62: 19–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morgan, A.T., Marsiske, M. and Whitfield, K.E. (2008) Characterizing and explaining differences in cognitive test performance between African American and European American older adults. Experimental Aging Research. 34(1): 80–100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moritz, S., Ferahli, S. and Nabar, D. (2004) Memory and attention performance in psychiatric patients: Lack of correspondence between clinician-rated and patient-rated functioning with neuropsychological test results. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. 10: 623–633.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Møllersen, S. and Holte, A. (2008) Ethnicity as a variable in mental health research: A systematic review of articles published 1990–2004. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry. 62: 322–328.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Santos, M.R., Russo, J., Aisenberg, G., Uehara, E., Ghesquiere, A. and Zatzick, D.F. (2008) Ethnic/racial diversity and posttraumatic distress in the acute care medical setting. Psychiatry. 71(3): 234–245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saravay, S.M., Steinberg, M.D., Weinschel, B., Pollack, S. and Alovis, N. (1991) Psychological comorbidity and length of stay in the general hospital. American Journal of Psychiatry. 148: 324–329.Google ScholarPubMed
Strakowski, S., Hawkins, J.et al. (1997) The effects of race and information variance on disagreement between psychiatric emergency service and research diagnoses in first-episode psychosis. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 58(10): 457–463.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swinson, R.P., Soulios, C., Cox, B.J. and Kuch, K. (1992) Brief treatment of emergency room patients with panic attacks. American Journal of Psychiatry. 149: 944–946.Google ScholarPubMed
Webster, J., Hall, L.et al. (2006) Prospective testing of the Brisbane Postnatal Depression Index. Birth. 33: 56–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed