Use of Allied Health Services in Rural Northern Victoria, Australia.
Andrew J Hamilton, Ryan McGrath, Lisa Bourke and 2 others
PMID 39895556WHAT IT FOUND
In rural Northern Victoria, optometry (46.2%) and pharmacy advice (32.5%) were used more than physiotherapy (18.2%).
Home English speakers were more likely to report using physiotherapy.
Key findings
01In the past 12 months, 46.2% reported optometry, 32.5% pharmacy advice, 18.2% physiotherapy, 12.9% podiatry and 6.7% psychology; GP use was 92.5%.
02Home English speakers had greater odds of using physiotherapy (OR 2.415 [1.279, 4.560]), and those unable to work had greater odds of using pharmacy advice (OR 2.588 [1.653, 4.050]).
03Not working was associated with greater odds of using psychology (OR 3.518 [1.999, 6.191]) and social work (OR 4.202 [2.110, 8.367]).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study reports associations, not cause and effect. Service use was self-reported for the past 12 months, with no data on quality of care or financial situation. It covered towns only, not farms. Speech therapy was excluded because the model failed to converge. The models analysed 2365 to 2367 participants, while the survey included 2679 persons. Pharmacy and physiotherapy models failed to classify correctly on more than 60% of occasions.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Crossroads-II was supported by grants from the Shepparton Community Health Service and the Rural City of Shepparton.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these associations as proof that any service improves health or that language status causes lower use. The survey asked about past 12-month visits and could not link cause and effect.