Creating a database to facilitate multilevel analyses of mental health determinants and outcomes in rural and remote areas.
OBJECTIVE
The lack of consistent findings regarding comparisons of mental health between rural and urban areas has been attributed in part to methodological shortcomings, including poor conceptualization of 'rurality'. To address the diversity of rural and remote communities, an interdisciplinary collaboration sought to establish a database incorporating a range of domains hypothesised to be major influences on the mental health of individuals, families and communities.


METHODS
The database domains included health (physical and mental), health service utilisation, sociodemographic characteristics, climate patterns, agricultural activity and primary industry. Important steps in the development of the database were addressing issues related to ethics, ownership, accessing data sources, sustainability of the database and integration of differing outcomes sought by the collaborators.


RESULTS
The paper describes the database while an illustrative example of analysis demonstrates its application. The potential for multilevel analyses between the database and other datasets is discussed as well as challenges for the future development of this valuable resource for rural mental health research.


CONCLUSIONS
The Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health database will be a valuable resource for rural mental health research.
Lane
Philip
P
Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health, University of Newcastle, Orange, New South Wales, Australia.
Stain
Helen J
HJ
Kelly
Brian
B
Lewin
Terry J
TJ
Higginbotham
Nick
N
D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D019992:Databases as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D009517:New South Wales; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*