title: Social deprivation and use of mental health legislation in New Zealand.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Low socioeconomic status has consistently been associated with poorer health outcomes. Few studies have used ecological analysis to explore relationships between area measures of deprivation and use of mental health legislation.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used an ecological design to explore associations between two area measures of relative deprivation and the two most commonly used sections of New Zealand mental health legislation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  High levels of relative deprivation were positively correlated with use of both acute and long-term community care provisions of mental health legislation with the correlation with long-term care achieving significance (r = .518, p = .016). Low levels of relative deprivation showed negative correlations with use of both provisions. The correlation of -.493 between low levels of relative deprivation and acute care provisions was significant at p = .023. In stepwise regression, the proportion of the population aged 15-64 contributed to the model for section 11, but ethnicity contributed to neither model.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mental health legislation is used disproportionately in areas with high levels of relative deprivation. The results have implications for regional allocation of funding for mental health and social services to support community-based care. Further research is needed to explore other factors that may account for the regional variation.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Mental Health Research, School of Nursing, The University of Auckland, New Zealand. a.obrien@auckland.ac.nz
authors.forename: Anthony John
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kydd
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Frampton
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand; D011203:Poverty / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult