Regional variation in mental healthcare utilization and suicide: evidence from movers in Australia

Poor mental health is a major global health issue, with many countries documenting high levels of unmet need and regional disparities in mental healthcare utilization. To determine how best to address these disparities, it is important to understand what drives regional variation. Using Census-linked microdata from Australia, we exploit cross-region migration to identify the extent to which patient and place factors drive regional variation in utilization of mental healthcare services and mental health prescriptions (antidepressants, anxiolytics, antipsychotics). We find that place factors account for approximately 72 % and 19 % of the regional variation in utilization of mental healthcare services and mental health prescriptions, respectively, with the rest reflecting patient-related demand. We also find suggestive evidence that larger place effects predict fewer mental health related Emergency Department presentations, self-harm hospitalizations, and suicides. Altogether, our findings suggest there is inadequate and inequitable supply in regions with low utilization, rather than inefficiently high utilization in high utilization regions.