Abstract
This study examined levels of disability and use of health services, as a result of psychological distress, across various ethnic groups after taking into account selected sociodemographic factors such as age, gender, education, and employment. We have analyzed data from the 1997–1998 New South Wales Health Survey, Australia. A telephone interview of 35,025 adults aged 16 years and over selected from each of the 17 Health Service Areas in the state. While people from non-English speaking backgrounds were more likely to suffer high levels of disability as a result of psychological distress, they were less likely to utilize health services compared to those from English speaking backgrounds. This was particularly true for those born in Southern and South-East Asia as well as the Middle East and Africa. Further research into the reasons underlying these findings for each ethnic group is warranted.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alegria, M., Robles, R., & Freedman, D. H. (1991). Patterns of mental health utilization among island Pueorto Rican poor. American Journal of Public Health, 81, 875–879.
Andrews, G., & Slade, T. (2001). Interpreting scores on the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 25, 494–497 .
Bennett, D. A. (2001). How can I deal with missing data in my study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 25, 464–469.
Chung, R. C., & Lin, K. (1994). Help-seeking behavior among Southeast Asian refugees. Journal of Community Psychology, 22, 109–120.
Cole, E., Leavey, G., & King, M. (1995). Pathways to care for patients with a first episode of psychosis: A comparison of ethnic groups. British Journal of Psychiatry, 167, 770–776.
Connolly, A. (1989). State of mind, cultural needs. Sydney, Australia: Eastern Sydney Area Health Service.
Ezpeleta, L., Keeler, G., Erkanli, A., Costello, J., & Angold, A. (2001). Epidemiology of psychiatric disability in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology, 42, 901–914.
Fan, C. (1999). A comparison of attitudes towards mental illness and knowledge of mental health services between Australian and Asian students. Community Mental Health Journal, 35, 47–56.
Ginzburg, E. (1991). Access to health care for Hispanics. JAMA, 265, 238–241.
Hough, R. L., Landsverk, J. A., & Karno, T. (1987). Utilisation of health and mental health services by Los Angeles Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic Whites. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 702–709.
Kessler, R. C., & Morczek, D. K. (1996). Some methodological issues in the development of quality of life measures for the evaluation of medical interventions. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 2, 181–191.
Klimidis, S., Lewis, J., Miletic, T., McKenzie, S., Stolk, Y., & Minas, I. H. (1999). Mental health service use by ethnic communities in Victoria. Melbourne, Australia: Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit.
Klimidis, S., McKenzie, D. P., Lewis, J., & Minas, I. H. (2000). Continuity of contact with psychiatric services. Immigrant and Australian-born patients. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 35, 554–563.
Leaf, P. J., Bruce, M. L., & Tischler, G. L. (1988). Factors affecting the utilization of speciality and general medical mental health services. Medical Care, 20, 9–13.
Li, P.-L., Logan, S., Yee, L., & Ng, S. (1999). Barriers to meeting the mental health needs of the Chinese community. Journal of Public Health Medicine, 21, 74–80.
Lin, E., & Parikh, S. V. (1999b). Sociodemographic, clinical, and attitudinal characteristics of the untreated depressed in Ontario. Journal of Affective Disorders, 53, 153–162.
Lin, K., & Cheung, F. (1999a). Mental health issues for Asian Americans. Psychiatric Services, 50, 774–780.
Lin, K. M., Inui, T., & Kleinman, A. (1982). Sociocultural determinants of help-seeking behavior of patients with mental illness. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 170, 78–85.
McDonald, B., & Steel, Z. (1997). Immigrants and mental health: An epidemiological analysis. Sydney, Australia: Transcultural Mental Health Centre.
McKenzie, K. J., & Crowcroft, N. S. (1994). Race, ethnicity, culture, and science. BMJ, 309, 286–287.
Mihalopoulous, C., Pirkis, J., Dunt, D., & Naccarella, L. (1999). Shared mental health care and people of non-English speaking backgrounds: A qualitative study of key informants’ views. Primary Care Psychiatry, 5, 19–24.
Minas, I. H., Stuart, G. W., & Klimidis, S. (1994). Language, culture and psychiatric services: A survey of Victorian clinical staff. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 28, 250–258.
Moodley, P., & Perkins, R. E. (1991). Routes to psychiatric inpatient care in a London Borough. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 26, 47–51.
Okazaki, S., & Kallivayalil, D. (2000). Cultural norms and subjective disability as predictors of symptom reports among Asian Americans and White Americans. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 33, 482–491.
Padgett, D. K., Parrick, C., Burns, B. J., & Schlesinger, H. J. (1994). Ethnic differences in use of inpatient mental health services by Blacks, Whites and Hispanics in a national insured population. Health Services Research, 29, 135–153.
Parker, G., Gladstone, G., & Chee, K. T. (2001). Depression in the planet’s largest ethnic group: The Chinese. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 857–864.
Pfeffer, N. (1998). Theories in health care and research: Theories of race, ethnicity and culture. BMJ, 317, 1381–1384.
Pirkis, J., Burgess, P., Meadows, G., & Dunt, D. (2001). Access to Australian mental health care by people from non-English-speaking backgrounds. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 35, 174–182.
Ruiz, P. (1993). Access to health care for uninsured Hispanics. Policy recommendations. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 44, 958–962.
Russell, G. L., Fujino, D. C., & Su, S. (1996). The effects of therapist-client ethnic match in the assessment of mental health functioning. Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology, 27, 598–615.
SAS Institute. (2000). SAS: Statistical software. Version 8.02. Cary, NC: SAS Institute.
Senior, P., & Bhopal, R. S. (1994). Ethnicity as a variable in epidemiological research. BMJ, 309, 327–329.
Shokoohi-Yekta, M., & Retish, P. M. (1991). Attitudes of Chinese and American male students towards mental illness. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 37, 192–200.
Stuart, G. W., Klimidis, S., & Minas, I. H. (1998). The treated prevalence of mental disorder amongst immigrants and the Australian-born: Community and primary-care rates. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 44, 22–34.
Stuart, G. W., Minas, I. H., Klimidis, S., & O’Connell, S. (1996). English language ability and mental health service utilization: A census. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 30, 270–277.
Sue, S., & Morishima, J. (1982). The mental health status of Asian Americans. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Uehara, E. S., Takeuchi, D. T., & Smukler, M. (1994). Effects of combining disparate groups in the analysis of ethnic differences: Variations among Asian American mental health service consumers in level of community functioning. American Journal of Community Psychology, 22, 83–99.
Ware, N. C., & Kleinman, A. (1992). Culture and somatic experience: The social course of illness in neurasthenia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Psychosomatic Medicine, 54, 546–560.
Williamson, M., Baker, D., & Jorm, L. (2000). The NSW Health Survey program: Overview and methods 1996–2000. Sydney, Australia: NSW Department of Health.
Young, R. F., Bukoff, A., Waller, J. B., & Blount, S. B. (1987). Health status, health problems and practices among refugees from the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. International Migration Review, 21, 760–782.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Boufous, S., Silove, D., Bauman, A. et al. Disability and Health Service Utilization Associated With Psychological Distress: The Influence of Ethnicity. Ment Health Serv Res 7, 171–179 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11020-005-5785-2
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11020-005-5785-2