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Are psychiatrists sexist? A study of bias in the assessment of psychiatric emergencies

Division of Psychiatry of Disability, St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE

Martin Deahl, Senior Lecturer

Department of Psychological Medicine, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London EC1A 7BE.

^* Correspondence

In order to investigate bias in history taking among psychiatric trainees, a retrospective study of case-notes was undertaken in an emergency psychiatric clinic in a teaching district. Two hundred and twenty-seven consecutive new patient assessments were assessed for quality of alcohol, substance use and forensic histories. Trainees were more likely to take alcohol, substance use and forensic histories from men, and more likely to take substance use histories from younger patients. It is concluded that trainees make sexist and ageist assumptions when they assess patients. There is a need for the education of doctors in this area.