Purpose: To compare Emergency Room (ER) utilisation by subjects diagnosed as suffering from a mental disorder, who were born in Strong Migratory Pressure Countries (SMPC) or in Italy. To evaluate the predictors of admission to psychiatric and to non-psychiatric wards. Method: Data collected from Information System of Emergency Rooms were analysed. ER contacts in the years 2000-2004 pertaining to subjects who received a psychiatric diagnosis (ICD9-CM codes), and who were born in SMPC or in Italy were examined. "Contacts" included a total of 68,867 assessments made in the ER of all general hospitals in Rome having an acute psychiatric ward. Gender, age and clinical information on SMPC-born and Italian-born patients were compared. A multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed in order to determine risk factors for admission to a psychiatric or to a non-psychiatric ward. Results: At the end of follow-up, 11.7% of ER contacts concerned patients born in SMPC. Compared to the Italian-born group, these patients were younger and received more frequently a diagnosis of "Alcohol and substance abuse and dependencies", while admissions to a psychiatric ward were significantly less common. Conclusion: Monitoring health service utilisation may provide relevant information for the delivery of culturally sensitive mental health services. © 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Mental disorders Italy Emergency Medical Services Emigration and immigration Health service research

urban population hospital admission urban area Psychiatric Department, Hospital immigrant mental health service logistic regression analysis Rome follow up human Ethnic Groups International Classification of Diseases health service controlled study priority journal Substance-Related Disorders comparative study substance abuse alcoholism emergency ward Mental Disorders mental disease Humans Cross-Cultural Comparison Adolescent male Emigrants and Immigrants female prediction risk factor Referral and Consultation medical information system Hospitals, General time series analysis Article health care utilization major clinical study adult gender information system Utilization Review Patient Admission Emergency Service, Hospital Italy psychiatric department health care delivery