Table 2.
Referrals among those presenting to PMHC services by age-group, Western Sydney (Australia), 2005–2018
| Characteristics | Age | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median (IQR) | ≤ 11 N (%) | 12–24 N (%) | 25–34 N (%) | 35–44 N (%) | 45–54 N (%) | 55–64 N (%) | ≥ 65 N (%) | |
| Total (data missing for 2983 referrals) | 31 (16,46) | 4280 (17.2) | 5653 (22.7) | 4122 (16.5) | 4054 (16.3) | 3391 (13.6) | 2124 (8.5) | 1290 (5.2) |
| Gender (data missing for 206 referrals) | ||||||||
| Male | 26 (11,43) | 2596 (61.1) | 2196 (39.2) | 1336 (32.7) | 1439 (35.8) | 1157 (34.4) | 756 (35.9) | 416 (32.4) |
| Female | 33 (19,47) | 1654 (38.9) | 3402 (60.8) | 2750 (67.3) | 2584 (64.2) | 2203 (65.6) | 1351 (64.1) | 868 (67.6) |
| Socioeconomic status (IRSAD) (data missing for 1664 referrals) | ||||||||
| 1 (Most deprived) | 28 (13,44) | 1119 (27.1) | 1110 (21.1) | 819 (21.7) | 761 (20.5) | 584 (18.6) | 410 (20.6) | 216 (17.6) |
| 2 | 33 (20,47) | 287 (6.9) | 372 (7.1) | 393 (10.4) | 345 (9.3) | 303 (9.6) | 219 (11.0) | 75 (6.1) |
| 3 | 29 (14,44) | 964 (23.3) | 1187 (22.5) | 794 (21.0) | 762 (20.5) | 586 (18.6) | 369 (18.5) | 279 (22.7) |
| 4 | 33 (18,49) | 834 (20.2) | 1217 (23.1) | 900 (23.8) | 940 (25.3) | 819 (26.1) | 596 (29.9) | 352 (28.7) |
| 5 least deprived | 30 (16,46) | 926 (22.4) | 1385 (26.3) | 870 (23.0) | 901 (24.3) | 851 (27.1) | 400 (20.1) | 305 (24.9) |
| Diagnosis (data missing for 2589 referrals) | ||||||||
| Anxiety and affective disorders | 36 (24,49) | 340 (9.2) | 1849 (35.5) | 1671 (45.2) | 1575 (43.4) | 1375 (46.0) | 854 (45.4) | 496 (41.3) |
| Affective (mood) disorders | 36 (22,50) | 325 (8.7) | 1190 (22.8) | 941 (25.4) | 972 (26.8) | 853 (28.6) | 587 (31.2) | 396 (32.9) |
| Anxiety disorders | 17 (10,37) | 1471 (39.6) | 1228 (23.6) | 500 (13.5) | 466 (12.8) | 329 (11.0) | 241 (12.8) | 206 (17.1) |
| Substance use disorders | 36 (27,45) | 19 (0.5) | 177 (3.4) | 233 (6.3) | 267 (7.4) | 168 (5.6) | 71 (3.8) | 27 (2.2) |
| Other | 13 (8,33) | 1560 (42.0) | 764 (14.7) | 355 (9.6) | 351 (9.7) | 261 (8.7) | 130 (6.9) | 77 (6.4) |
| Referrer type (data missing for 1434 referrals) | ||||||||
| N/A—Self referral | 39 (31,49) | 3 (0.1) | 46 (0.8) | 91 (2.4) | 123 (3.3) | 97 (3.2) | 34 (1.8) | 15 (1.2) |
| Paediatrician | 8 (6,10) | 419 (9.8) | 93 (1.7) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Allied mental health professionals | 12 (9,26) | 442 (10.4) | 211 (3.9) | 81 (2.1) | 53 (1.4) | 50 (1.6) | 35 (1.8) | 13 (1.1) |
| Psychiatrist | 34 (18,46) | 7 (0.2) | 24 (0.4) | 19 (0.5) | 16 (0.4) | 19 (0.6) | 9 (0.5) | 1 (0.1) |
| General practitioner | 31 (16,46) | 3302 (77.4) | 4963 (90.7) | 3514 (92.5) | 3464 (92.7) | 2841 (92.7) | 1803 (94.3) | 1153 (93.4) |
| Other | 29 (15,45) | 92 (2.2) | 133 (2.4) | 93 (2.4) | 81 (2.2) | 58 (1.9) | 30 (1.6) | 52 (4.2) |
| Principal focus of the treatment (data missing for 59 referrals) | ||||||||
| Low intensity intervention | 41 (29,53) | 27 (0.6) | 143 (2.5) | 245 (6.0) | 262 (6.5) | 240 (7.1) | 136 (6.4) | 91 (7.1) |
| Child and youth–specific | 9 (7,12) | 2738 (64.0) | 1031 (18.2) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Psychological therapy | 35 (21,49) | 1466 (34.3) | 3842 (68.0) | 3049 (74.3) | 3179 (78.9) | 2706 (79.9) | 1756 (82.8) | 1113 (86.5) |
| Other | 33 (25,45) | 45 (1.1) | 637 (11.3) | 811 (19.8) | 587 (14.6) | 439 (13) | 230 (10.8) | 82 (6.4) |
| Suicide referral status (data missing for 1236 referrals)a | ||||||||
| Yes | 33 (22,46) | 36 (0.9) | 721 (13.3) | 556 (14.6) | 452 (12.2) | 399 (13.0) | 198 (10.4) | 75 (6.2) |
| No | 30 (14,45) | 4148 (99.1) | 4703 (86.7) | 3258 (85.4) | 3260 (87.8) | 2669 (87.0) | 1699 (89.6) | 1137 (93.8) |
| Any mental health medication used (data missing for 3566 referrals) | ||||||||
| Yes | 39 (26,51) | 282 (7.3) | 1377 (27.5) | 1520 (43.9) | 1593 (47.5) | 1505 (53.3) | 945 (55.1) | 555 (50.3) |
| No | 22 (11,40) | 3590 (92.7) | 3637 (72.5) | 1944 (56.1) | 1763 (52.5) | 1318 (46.7) | 770 (44.9) | 549 (49.7) |
| Referrals resulted in services (157 referrals in the waiting list) | ||||||||
| Yes | 32 (16,47) | 3316 (77.8) | 4241 (75.7) | 3148 (76.7) | 3206 (79.6) | 2818 (83.6) | 1811 (85.8) | 1099 (86.0) |
| No | 27 (14,41) | 948 (22.2) | 1363 (24.3) | 955 (23.3) | 823 (20.4) | 551 (16.4) | 299 (14.2) | 179 (14.0) |
| Treatment no–show | ||||||||
| Yes | NA | 219 (1.1) | 495 (1.8) | 371 (1.8) | 320 (1.4) | 258 (1.3) | 135 (1.0) | 79 (1.0) |
| No | NA | 19,739 (98.9) | 26,963 (98.2) | 20,052 (98.2) | 21,938 (98.6) | 19,739 (98.7) | 13,569 (99.0) | 7610 (99.0) |
| Waiting time (data missing for 105 referrals)b | ||||||||
| within 7 days | 35 (21,49) | 611 (18.6) | 1433 (34.0) | 1266 (40.4) | 1215 (38.1) | 1122 (39.9) | 706 (39.1) | 388 (35.5) |
| 1 week–1 month | 31 (15,47) | 1580 (48.0) | 1816 (43.1) | 1259 (40.2) | 1336 (41.9) | 1114 (39.7) | 745 (41.3) | 495 (45.2) |
| 1–3 month | 26 (12,45) | 882 (26.8) | 793 (18.8) | 489 (15.6) | 474 (14.9) | 460 (16.4) | 284 (15.7) | 164 (15.0) |
| 3–6 month | 29 (12,44) | 159 (4.8) | 131 (3.1) | 84 (2.7) | 116 (3.6) | 78 (2.8) | 50 (2.8) | 33 (3.0) |
| > 6 month | 31 (12,46) | 60 (1.8) | 37 (0.9) | 37 (1.2) | 48 (1.5) | 35 (1.2) | 20 (1.1) | 14 (1.3) |
| Mode of contact (data missing for 9324 sessions)c | ||||||||
| Face to face | NA | 18,357 (99.0) | 23,862 (96.3) | 17,155 (93.8) | 18,992 (94.5) | 17,110 (93.9) | 12,300 (94.5) | 7217 (97.8) |
| Telephone | NA | 165 (0.9) | 650 (2.6) | 920 (5.0) | 937 (4.7) | 927 (5.1) | 594 (4.6) | 148 (2.0) |
| Internet–based | NA | 12 (0.1) | 254 (1.0) | 208 (1.1) | 151 (0.8) | 166 (0.9) | 118 (0.9) | 15 (0.2) |
| Video | NA | 0 (0) | 1 (0) | 7 (0) | 9 (0) | 10 (0.1) | 1 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Session per referrald | NA | 6 (3,7) | 6 (3,8) | 6 (3,8) | 6 (3,9) | 6 (3,10) | 6 (3,11) | 6 (3,9) |
aSince this service was added in 2008, denominator was considered as total referrals from 2008 to 2018; bReferrals not resulted in services excluded from the denominator; cnumber of sessions were used as the denominator; dReferrals did not finish treatments were not included in the calculation; Amount of missing excluded from the denominator when calculating percentages