2022/11/15 by Andrew Amos, Mathew Coleman, Breeanna Spring Walsh +1 · 2 citations
paper · doi:10.1177/10398562221139129
Objective Estimate impact of socioeconomic factors and remoteness from tertiary hospital on incidence/duration of Australian mental health admissions. Methods Retrospective analysis of incidence/duration of public mental health unit admissions (2018–19). Covariates included Indigenous population, potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH) and socioeconomic disadvantage. Results Regional distance from hospital was correlated with socioeconomic disadvantage ( ρ: p 2 adj : 0.48) by distance and socioeconomic disadvantage ( p 2 adj : 0.36) by distance, education/occupation and state ( p Conclusions Rural Australians face high mental illness burden, socioeconomic disadvantage and limited service provision. Overcoming the additional disadvantages of reduced likelihood of admission to and reduced time in hospital with increasing distance from hospital will require increased outreach proportional to remoteness.