CULTURAL RESPONSE TO MENTAL-ILLNESS IN SENEGAL - REFLECTIONS THROUGH PATIENT COMPANIONS .2. STATISTICAL CORRELATES

Patient records from the Thiaroye Psychiatric Hospital in Senegal were studied to see if analysis of patterns of persons accompanying patien ts to the hospital could help to portray the community's response to m ental illness. A systematic sample of 935 records of initial out-patie nts visits were examined. Patterns of patient companionship were found to strongly correlate with specific patient sociodemographic and clin ical characteristics. Interpretation of these findings helped to clari fy both prevailing attitudes toward the mentally ill and the social re sponse and management of mental illness. The first article in this ser ies presented the study setting, methods, sociodemographic and clinica l characteristics of the patients, and characteristics of patient comp anions. The current article examines the statistical associations of c ompanion number, gender and kinship relationship with patient sociodem ographic and clinical characteristics.