Locational variation in mental health care utilization dependent upon diagnosis: A Canadian example

Numerous empirical investigations have shown the impact or facility location upon rates of mental health care service utilization to be substantial but complex. Following a brief discussion of the conceptual basis of distance decay effects in utilization, the role of diagnosis as a modifier of such effects is explored through analysis of data for a mental health care catchment area in central Ontario. The results produced demonstrate clearly the importance of diagnosis; the strength of distance decay effects is negatively correlated with the severity of diagnosis. This points toward the severe constraint imposed by assumptions on the uniformity of observations (patients) and on their response to facility location