Ecological correlates of psychiatric illness in the City of Calgary

Hospital admissions for psychiatric disorders in the City of Calgary were reviewed during a six-month period. Rates of hospitalization for the city's 77 census tract areas were calculated and correlated with data collected in the 1976 Canada Census. The study identified areas in the city with high rates of pathology requiring hospitalization. The correlational analysis reveals a significant association between differential admission rates and demographic and ecological attributes such as age, marital status, population stability, housing tenure, crowding, social disintegration and isolation and unemployment. Of these correlates, the proportion of persons aged 65 years and over and the number of families in each of the census tract areas were shown to be the most important factors influencing rates of psychiatric hospitalization.