Comment & Debate
Leah S. Steele, M.D., Ph.D., Richard H. Glazier, M.D., M.P.H. and Elizabeth Lin, Ph.D. “Inequity in Mental Health Care Under Canadian Universal Health Coverage.” American Psychiatric Association. March 2006 – “Claimants from neighborhoods with the highest socioeconomic status were 1.6 times as likely as those from neighborhoods with the lowest socioeconomic status to use psychiatric care. Among persons who received care from a psychiatrist, claimants from neighborhoods with the highest socioeconomic status had significantly more psychiatric claims than those from neighborhoods with the lowest socioeconomic status. No significant gradients were found for either sex for any use of mental health care provided by family physicians. Among females, service users from the highest socioeconomic areas had more mental health visits to family physicians than those from the lowest socioeconomic areas. CONCLUSIONS: Marked socioeconomic disparities were found in the use of care from a psychiatrist. Unlimited coverage of physician-provided mental health care is insufficient to fairly distribute services to those most in need.”