Differences in Mental Health Diagnoses between Recent Chinese Immigrants and a Comparison Population in British...

Linked administrative data indicate that the distributions of mental health diagnoses are different for recent Chinese immigrants in British Columbia compared to a matched group reflecting the general population, as recorded in payments to general practitioners and psychiatrists between 1992 and 2001. Chinese immigrants were much less likely to have consultations for the mental disorders that were most common in the general population. Among those who saw a psychiatrist, psychotic conditions accounted for a larger proportion of visits for Chinese immigrants than those from the general population. The opposite was true for depressive conditions. The findings illuminate nuances in the disparity in mental health service utilization between Chinese immigrants and the general population.