Factors associated with high use of general practitioner and psychiatrist services among patients attending an addiction rehabilitation center.

Background: This study aimed to 1) identify the characteristics of individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) who make high use of services provided by general practitioners (GP) and psychiatrists while receiving services concurrently from an addiction rehabilitation center (ARC), and 2) to compare high service users to moderate and low service users.

Methods: Data were compiled for 4,407 individuals with SUDs who were receiving services from an ARC in 2004. The data came from the merging of four databases: the ARC data registry (January 1(st), 2004-December 31, 2004), the Quebec Health Insurance Board database (March 31, 2003-April 1st, 2005), the Quebec provincial database for hospitalizations (March 31, 2003-April 1st, 2005), and the Quebec National Institute of Public Health database (2004).

Neighborhood characteristics associated with the availability of alcohol outlets in quebec, Canada.

Objectives. The objectives of this study were to examine the spatial accessibility to alcohol outlets in Quebec and to assess the association between neighborhood level characteristics and availability of alcohol outlets. Methods.

Predictors of healthcare service utilization for mental health reasons.

This study was designed to identify: (1) predictors of 12-month healthcare service utilization for mental health reasons, framed by the Andersen model, among a population cohort in an epidemiological catchment area; and (2) correlates associated with healthcare service utilization for mental health reasons among individuals with and without mental disorders respectively. Analyses comprised univariate, bivariate, and multiple regression analyses. Being male, having poor quality of life, possessing better self-perception of physical health, and suffering from major depressive episodes, panic disorder, social phobia, and emotional problems predicted healthcare service utilization for mental health reasons.

High users of emergency departments in Quebec among patients with both schizophrenia and a substance use disorder.

Objective: The study assessed factors associated over time with high use of emergency departments by patients in Quebec who had schizophrenia and a co-occurring substance use disorder.

Methods: The cohort study included 2,921 patients who received a diagnosis of schizophrenia in 2006 and had at least one emergency department visit during fiscal year 2006-2007. Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate predictors of high use of emergency departments over time.

Disentangling the influence of neighborhood and individual characteristics on early residential mobility among newly diagnosed patients with schizophrenia: a multilevel analysis.

Purpose: Early residential mobility of schizophrenic patients may relate to discontinuity of treatment and adverse outcome. However, factors influencing early residential mobility of these patients are still poorly examined. The aim of this study was to disentangle the influence of individual and neighborhood characteristics on early residential mobility of schizophrenic patients.

Network collaboration of organisations for homeless individuals in the Montreal region.

Introduction: We know little about the intensity and determinants of interorganisational collaboration within the homeless network. This study describes the characteristics and relationships (along with the variables predicting their degree of interorganisational collaboration) of 68 organisations of such a network in Montreal (Quebec, Canada).

Theory And Methods: Data were collected primarily through a self-administered questionnaire.

Spatio-temporal clustering of the incidence of schizophrenia in Quebec, Canada from 2004 to 2007.

Exploring spatio-temporal patterns of disease incidence can help to identify areas of significantly elevated or decreased risk, providing potential etiologic clues. In this study, we present a spatio-temporal analysis of the incidence of schizophrenia in Quebec from 2004 to 2007 using administrative databases from the Régie de l'Assurance Maladie du Quebec and the hospital discharge database. We conducted purely spatial analyses for each age group adjusted by sex for the whole period using SatScan (version 9.

Does elapsed time between first diagnosis of schizophrenia and migration between health territories vary by place of residence? A survival analysis approach.

Migration of patients with schizophrenia might influence health care access and utilization. However, the time between diagnosis and migration of these patients has not yet been explored. We studied the first migration between health territories of 6873 patients newly diagnosed with schizophrenia in Quebec in 2001, aiming to describe the pattern of migration and assess the influence of the place of residence on migration.

Assessing spatial accessibility to mental health facilities in an urban environment.

Canadian provincial health systems are obligated to ensure access to health services for all citizens, based primarily on the principles of "universality" and "accessibility" which is enshrined in the Canada Health Act. Nevertheless, less than 40% of Canadian with mental health problems uses mental health services. Efforts to understand underutilization of mental health services have focused on individual and neighborhood characteristics.

Optimizing the two-step floating catchment area method for measuring spatial accessibility to medical clinics in Montreal.

Background: Reducing spatial access disparities to healthcare services is a growing priority for healthcare planners especially among developed countries with aging populations. There is thus a pressing need to determine which populations do not enjoy access to healthcare, yet efforts to quantify such disparities in spatial accessibility have been hampered by a lack of satisfactory measurements and methods. This study compares an optimised and the conventional version of the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method to assess spatial accessibility to medical clinics in Montreal.