Differences in social class among psychotic patients at inpatient admission

A cross-sectional assessment of differences in social class and other sociodemographic variables at hospital admission for patients with psychotic disorders was carried out through a systematic survey of psychotic patients admitted to greater Baltimore psychiatric facilities between 1983 and 1989. Female patients, first-admission patients, and patients with bipolar disorder or other, nonschizophrenic psychosis were more likely to have been admitted to community, university, and private hospitals than to state hospitals. Patients in medium and higher social class categories were 1.29 to 2.57 times more likely to be admitted to community, university, and private hospitals than to state hospitals.