Research

Measuring perceived racism and psychosis in African-Caribbean patients in the United Kingdom: the modified perceived racism scale

Apu T Chakraborty¹, Kwame McKenzie², Gerard Leavey³ and Michael King¹

¹  Department of Mental Health Sciences, Royal Free & University College Medical School, Hampstead Campus, London, UK

²  Social Equity and Health Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 455 Spadina Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

³  Northern Ireland Association for Mental Health (NIAMH), Central Office, 80 University St, Belfast, UK

Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health 2009, 5:10doi:10.1186/1745-0179-5-10

Published:	20 May 2009

Abstract

Aim

The increased rate of psychosis and poorer service-related outcomes in UK African-Caribbeans may in part be related to racism; racism as an aetiological factor remains comparatively under-investigated. We wanted to develop a measure of perceived racism in UK African-Caribbean patients with psychosis

Methods

We modified the Perceived Racism Scale (PRS) by substituting a mental-health-services' racism domain for the employment-racism domain and administered it to a sample of 150 individuals.

Results

110 people completed the PRS with a total mean perceived racism score of 54.2 for the previous year and 71.3 for the lifetime. The modified instrument had good internal consistency, and both a similar factor-analytic structure and sampling adequacy to the original instrument.

Clinical Implications

The modified PRS was acceptable to the sample, withstands statistical scrutiny and produced similar totals to those in previously-tested populations. Subjective measurement of perceived racism may improve understanding of psychosis in African-Caribbeans, improve engagement and, hopefully, outcome.