Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31928567›Full record

ArticleEpidemiology and psychiatric sciences2020

Distance to health services and treatment-seeking for depressive symptoms in rural India: a repeated cross-sectional study.

T Roberts, S Shiode, C Grundy, V Patel, R Shidhaye, S D Rathod

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. District mental health program: Then and now.Indian journal of psychiatry · 2024
    Review
  7. Mental Health Programme in India: Has the tide really turned?The Indian journal of medical research · 2023
    Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

T RobertsHealth Service & Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8584-4162
S ShiodeDepartment of Geography, Birkbeck University of London, London, UK.
C GrundyMRC Tropical Epidemiology Group, Epidemiology & Population Health Faculty, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
V PatelDepartment of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
R ShidhayeCentre for Mental Health, Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, India.
S D RathodDepartment of Population Health, Epidemiology & Population Health Faculty, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsResearch 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.

methodsWe 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.

resultsWe 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.

conclusionsGeographic 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.

Indexed as

Help-Seeking BehaviorPatient Acceptance of Health CareAdultCross-Sectional StudiesDepressionFemaleGeographic Information SystemsHealth Care SurveysHealth Services AccessibilityHealth Services ResearchHumansIndiaMaleMental Health ServicesPopulation SurveillanceRural Populationcross cultural psychiatryDepressionhealth service researchminority issuesprimary care

Identifiers

PMID31928567
PMCPMC7214702

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.