Admission and stay in psychiatric hospitals in northern Norway among Sami and a control group: a registry-based study.

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was analyze the admission and inpatient stay at psychiatric hospital in northern Norway among people from the Sami-speaking municipalities (Sami group) and a control group (non-Sami group). Are they treated equally?

METHODS

All admissions and inpatient stay from the administration area of the Sami language law (eight municipalities) was matched with a control group of 11 municipalities. All adult patients treated during the 2-year time period 2009-2010 and registered by the Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR) were included in the study. Population data as of 2009 was accessed from Statistics Norway. The admission rate and the days in hospital (DiH) rate per 10,000 inhabitants/year were set as 1.0.

RESULTS

Both study groups had a significantly higher admission and DiH-rate than northern Norwegians in general. The median annual admission rate/10,000 inhabitants was 284 (Sami) and 307 (non-Sami), respectively (P = 0.23). Whereas there were no difference between groups with regard to DiH/10,000 inhabitants/year (P = 0.24), the males of the Sami group spent significantly fewer DiH when any form of coercion was used (RR = 0.41).

CONCLUSIONS

Sami did not experience significantly more or fewer admissions (voluntary and compulsory) to psychiatric hospitals than the control group. There were significant intergroup variations in both groups.