Factors associated with reported service use for mental health problems by residents of rural and remote communities: cross-sectional findings from a baseline survey

Table 3 Relationships between socio-demographic characteristics and reported professional and non-professional contacts for mental health problems (N = 2101)

Socio-demographic characteristic	Sub-group n	Professional service utilisation		Non-professional service utilisation
		n (%)	OR (99% CI)	n (%)	OR (99% CI)
Age (years):
18-34	150	25 (17)		21 (14)
35-44	275	72 (26)	1.93 (0.95, 3.93)	56 (20)	1.73 (0.81, 3.73)
45-54	445	87 (20)	1.32 (0.66, 2.64)	68 (15)	1.21 (0.57, 2.57)
55-64	597	100 (17)	1.19 (0.59, 2.37)	66 (11)	0.92 (0.43, 1.98)
65+	634	79 (12)	0.83 (0.40, 1.72)	30 (4.7)	0.34 (0.14, 0.83)*
Gender:
Male	838	138 (16)		68 (8.1)
Female	1263	225 (18)	1.11 (0.80, 1.53)	173 (14)	1.79 (1.19, 2.69)**
Education:
Partial schooling	595	82 (14)		47 (7.9)
Completed high school or above	1388	253 (18)	1.35 (0.92, 1.98)	180 (13)	1.47 (0.91, 2.36)
Unknown	118	28 (24)	2.01 (1.04, 3.87)*	14 (12)	1.74 (0.73, 4.15)
Marital status:
Married/de facto	1570	233 (15)		152 (9.7)
Divorced/separated	212	64 (30)	2.12 (1.36, 3.31)**	46 (22)	2.29 (1.38, 3.83)**
Widowed	168	25 (15)	1.18 (0.62, 2.26)	15 (8.9)	1.64 (0.72, 3.77)
Never married	151	41 (27)	1.98 (1.13, 3.44)*	28 (19)	1.82 (0.96, 3.46)
ASGC category (Remoteness):
Inner regional	764	139 (18)		103 (13)
Outer regional	787	129 (16)	0.85 (0.59, 1.21)	89 (11)	0.79 (0.52, 1.19)
Remote	396	67 (17)	0.90 (0.58, 1.40)	32 (8.1)	0.53 (0.30, 0.94)*
Very remote	154	28 (18)	0.90 (0.49, 1.66)	17 (11)	0.67 (0.32, 1.41)
Financial position:
Prosperous/comfortable	336	40 (12)		26 (7.7)
Reasonable	1069	152 (14)	1.20 (0.73, 1.97)	107 (10)	1.25 (0.68, 2.28)
Just getting along to very poor	696	171 (25)	2.23 (1.34, 3.70)**	108 (16)	1.99 (1.07, 3.69)*

Note: Based on a series of hierarchical logistic regressions, in which socio-demographic characteristics were entered simultaneously at step 1 (Table 3), followed by each of the current health status variables separately at step 2 (Table 4): * p < 0.01; ** p < 0.001. Only participants with the full set of socio-demographic characteristics were included. OR: Odds Ratio; CI: Confidence Interval.

ISSN: 1472-6963