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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology

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Open Access 09-07-2022 | Care | Original Paper

Inequity in psychiatric healthcare use in Australia

Authors: Rubayyat Hashmi, Khorshed Alam, Jeff Gow, Khurshid Alam, Sonja March

Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology | Issue 4/2023

Abstract

Background

Despite recent substantial mental healthcare reforms to increase the supply of healthcare, mental health inequality in Australia is rising. Understanding of the level of inequity (unmet need gap) in psychiatric service use in Australia’s mixed public–private health care system is lacking.

Objective

To present a novel method to measure inequity in the delivery of psychiatric care.

Methods

Data came from wave 9 (year 2009, n = 11,563) and wave 17 (year 2017, n = 16,194) of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Multiple logistic regression was employed to estimate the psychiatric care utilisation compared to its need and the Gini index was used to estimate the standardised distribution of utilisation to measure the extent of inequity.

Results

The results show the inequity indices (need-standardised Gini) in psychiatric care utilisation were significant and found to be 0.066 and 0.096 in 2009 and 2017, respectively, for all individuals. In 2009, the inequity indices were found to be 0.051 and 0.078 for males and females, respectively, and 0.045 and 0.068 for rural and urban residents, respectively. In 2017, the indices were calculated to be 0.081 and 0.109 for males and females, respectively, and 0.086 and 0.097 for rural and urban residents, respectively.

Conclusions

This study showed a marked increase in unmet needs in psychiatric care utilisation since 2009. There is a greater need to develop policies to improve equity in psychiatric care utilisation in Australia.

Available only for authorised users

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Title: Inequity in psychiatric healthcare use in Australia
Authors: Rubayyat Hashmi
Khorshed Alam
Jeff Gow
Khurshid Alam
Sonja March
Publication date: 09-07-2022
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Keyword: Care
Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology / Issue 4/2023
Print ISSN: 0933-7954
Electronic ISSN: 1433-9285
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-022-02310-1

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Inequity in psychiatric healthcare use in Australia

Abstract

Background

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Other articles of this Issue 4/2023

Stronger together: community participation, structural stigma, and depression among sexual and gender minority adults in 28 European countries

Comparing treatment delays and pathways to early intervention services for psychosis in urban settings in India and Canada

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Methods

Results

Conclusions

Please log in to get access to this content

Stronger together: community participation, structural stigma, and depression among sexual and gender minority adults in 28 European countries

Comparing treatment delays and pathways to early intervention services for psychosis in urban settings in India and Canada

Prevalence and characteristics of unipolar mania in a low-income country setting: population-based data from the Butajira cohort, rural Ethiopia

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Migrant status, clinical symptoms and functional outcome in youth at clinical high risk for psychosis: findings from the NAPLS-3 study

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