A focus on mental health issues in Chinese Canadians in Metro-Vancouver

Despite the presence of significant need, traditional pathways to mental health care tend to be underutilized by ethno-cultural groups, including Chinese. Research has shown that Chinese immigrants use less overall health care services compared to other ethnic groups. We conducted a retrospective chart review on a group of 370 Chinese-Canadian patients from 2006 to 2009 seeking treatment at a large outpatient cross cultural psychiatric clinic in a Metro-Vancouver university teaching hospital. Data were collected on socio-demographic characteristics, diagnosis and treatment outcomes. The results were compared to a prior retrospective chart review conducted in 2001 of 370 Chinese-Canadian patients from 1998 to 2001 at the same clinic. Results showed that socio-demographic characteristics between the two cohorts shifted. There was an increase in the proportion of patients coming from mainland China between 2001 (30%) and 2009 (47%) as well as an increase in the proportion of women patients seen at the clinic (35% vs. 70%). Clinically, more patients were seen for major depressive episode (61%) in 2001 whereas the patients reviewed in 2009 were split between major depressive disorder recurrent (33%) and major depressive episode (34%). Similar to the findings in the 2001 cohort, female, mainland Chinese patients were more likely to drop-out of treatment or be lost-in-follow-up. Results are reflective of the general immigration trends in Canada to large metropolitan centers, and are discussed within the context understanding the importance of cultural and gender barriers for Chinese-Canadians, the need for appropriate service delivery and developing strategies to minimize premature drop-out from treatment.