TORONTO - A new report says people who live in low income neighbourhoods are nearly twice as likely to be hospitalized with depression than people living in affluent areas.
But the report finds that once they enter hospital, both groups spend roughly the same amount of time in care and there is no difference in the likelihood of readmission.
It's known that rates of mental health problems are higher among people with low incomes.
That's both because having mental health problems can make it hard to hold down a job and because struggling to get by with little income creates stress that can lead to or exacerbate mental health issues.
The report from the Canadian Institutes for Health Information, which is based on 2004-2005 data, says people in the country's poorest neighbourhoods were 85 per cent more likely to be hospitalized for depression than those living in better off neighbourhoods.
The report suggests that may be because people in low income areas don't know about alternative psychological or psychiatric help or may not be able to afford it.
The report says hospital stays for depression lasted an average of 16 days, with half of individuals staying less than 11 days.
One in five individuals hospitalized with depression had one or more substance-related disorders.
About 7.5 per cent of people hospitalized with depression were readmitted within 30 days and just over a quarter were readmitted within a year.
