Data from the mental health enquiry and the 1981 census are used to describe the age/sex specific pattern of first and total admissions of West Indian born patients to psychiatric hospitals in two Thames Regions. By contrast to native Britons, more young men, but not young women, appear to be admitted but the readmission rate for young patients of both sexes is high. Older West Indians of both sexes have a similar first admission rate to the native British. Older men but not older women have a low overall admission rate. Time trends suggest that there is a cohort of young men of whom the oldest are now in their early thirties who are at particular risk. © 1989 Springer-Verlag.

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West Indies London human sex difference comparative study Central America Mental Disorders Cross-Sectional Studies Cross-Cultural Comparison Adolescent male female major clinical study adult migration age United Kingdom Patient Admission mental hospital Emigration and Immigration sex Middle Age