This study examines the independent effect of urbanisation on the risk for admission apart from age, sex and marital status. For this purpose logit analysis was performed on a dataset containing all first admissions in Dutch general psychiatric hospitals and psychiatric teaching clinics in 1991. People who are not married and people living in urbanised municipalities run a greater risk for admission for all diagnostic groups analysed. People over 45 run a greater risk for admission for affective psychosis and organic psychosis. Women run a greater risk for affective psychosis.