Psychiatry in Gibraltar: in-patient statistics

Abstract

Gibraltar is one of the few remaining British colonies and the historical development of medical services on the Rock, named after its Moorish conqueror Gebel Tariq in AD 700, has been reviewed by Montegriffo (1978). The Rock provides a useful small community for studying the mental health of its population, being 1 × 3 miles in area and with a population of 29,166 (1986 census). The population has remained static for the last decade with the male/female ratio 15/14. There were 507 births, male/female ratio 254/253 and 290 deaths (154 males and 136 females, 1986 census). The age distribution has altered; the percentage over 65 years in 1970, 9.8% and in 1980, 11.2%.