NITHSDALE, NUNHEAD AND NORWOOD - SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN PREVALENCE OF SCHIZOPHRENIA AND UTILIZATION OF SERVICES IN RURAL AND URBANAREAS

Background The prevalence of schizophrenia is known to be greater in u rban than in rural areas. less studied are differences between the pat ients themselves and, more specifically, their use of psychiatric serv ices. Method The prevalence of schizophrenia was determined in rural N ithsdale in Scotland and urban Nunhead and Norwood in South London. in formation about patients' psychiatric history, use of services during the study year and global assessment of functioning were obtained from case records and staff. Results There were no significant differences in prevalence rates between Nithsdale patients, all White (2.78 per 1 000 general population), Nunhead (3.46 per 1000) and Norwood (2.24 per 1000) Whites, rates were significantly higher among the non-Whites in Nunhead (7.36 per 1000) and Norwood (5.53 per 1000), who were mainly Black Caribbeans. Nithsdale patients were at a higher level of functio ning and made substantially more use of psychiatric services. During t he study year, 42% of Nithsdale patients used more than one of three p rincipal community services, namely day, out-patient and community psy chiatric nursing care. Conclusions The prevalence of schizophrenia is no different in rural Nithsdale and inner-city Nunhead and Norwood, wh en only White patients are considered. Nithsdale patients were at a hi gher level of functioning and made more use of available psychiatric s ervices.