Roberts, T. and Shiode, Shino and Grundy, C. and Patel, V. and Shidhaye, R. and Rathod, S. (2020) Distance to health services and treatment-seeking for depressive symptoms in rural India: a repeated cross-sectional study. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences 29 , e92. ISSN 2045-7960.
![[img]](https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/text.png) |
Text
31928567 - Published Version of Record Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (79kB) |
Abstract
Aims. Research from high-income countries has implicated travel distance to mental health services as an important factor influencing treatment-seeking for mental disorders. This study aimed to test the extent to which travel distance to the nearest depression treatment provider is associated with treatment-seeking for depression in rural India. Methods. We used data from a population-based survey of adults with probable depression (n = 568), and calculated travel distance from households to the nearest public depression treatment provider with network analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). We tested the association between travel distance to the nearest public depression treatment provider and 12 month self-reported use of services for depression. Results. We found no association between travel distance and the probability of seeking treatment for depression (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.98–1.02, p = 0.78). Those living in the immediate vicinity of public depression treatment providers were just as unlikely to seek treatment as those living 20 km or more away by road. There was evidence of interaction effects by caste, employment status and perceived need for health care, but these effect sizes were generally small. Conclusions. Geographic accessibility – as measured by travel distance – is not the primary barrier to seeking treatment for depression in rural India. Reducing travel distance to public mental health services will not of itself reduce the depression treatment gap for depression, at least in this setting, and decisions about the best platform to deliver mental health services should not be made on this basis.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Shino Shiode |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Apr 2020 13:28 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:59 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/31651 |
Statistics
Additional statistics are available via IRStats2.
Archive Staff Only (login required)
