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Rural-urban differences in accessing mental health care in Tunisia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

E. Bergaoui ,
M. Zrelli ,
N. Staali ,
M. Moalla ,
R. Lansari ,
A. Larnaout  and
W. Melki
E. Bergaoui*
Affiliation:
Razi Hospital, Psychiatry D, Manouba, Tunisia
M. Zrelli
Affiliation:
Razi Hospital, Psychiatry D, Manouba, Tunisia
N. Staali
Affiliation:
Razi Hospital, Psychiatry D, Manouba, Tunisia
M. Moalla
Affiliation:
Razi Hospital, Psychiatry D, Manouba, Tunisia
R. Lansari
Affiliation:
Razi Hospital, Psychiatry D, Manouba, Tunisia
A. Larnaout
Affiliation:
Razi Hospital, Psychiatry D, Manouba, Tunisia
W. Melki
Affiliation:
Razi Hospital, Psychiatry D, Manouba, Tunisia
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Despite improvement of mental health outcomes over the last years in Tunisia, there are still striking rural-urban mental health inequalities.

Objectives

The aim of this study is to evaluate the rural-urban differences in accessing mental health care among patients with psychiatric disorders

Methods

A cross sectional and descriptive survey was conducted between March and April 2021 in the department of psychiatry D of Razi Hospital including 70 patients admitted or treated as outpatients. The sex ratio was 1.

Results

The participants were aged between 17 and 68. About 11.42% came from rural areas. In these areas, 75% percent had low income versus 30.64% in urban areas. (p=0.047) The percentage of celibacy in urban areas was 68.85% versus 37.5% in rural areas (p=0.042) No significant difference was observed between the level of education and living in rural or urban areas. There was no association between rural or urban origin and number of admissions or treatment adherence or use of cannabis. The mean time between symptoms onset and consulting was 8.51 years in rural areas versus 2 years in urban areas. Moreover, time between symptoms onset and admission was significantly associated with rural or urban origin (p=0.045). The mean duration was 13,33 years (±10) in rural areas versus 3.12 years (±4.13).

Conclusions

Families living in urban areas had better income and would come to psychiatric hospital earlier. Therefore, we should help patients in rural areas access to mental health facilities for a better medical care.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

Urbanmental healthcare accessRural
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S630 - S631
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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