Distance to health services and treatment-seeking for depressive symptoms in rural India: a repeated cross-sectional study.

AIMS: Research from high-income countries has implicated travel distance to mental health services as an important factor influencing treatment-seeking for mental disorders. This study aimed to test the extent to which travel distance to the nearest depression treatment provider is associated with treatment-seeking for depression in rural India. METHODS: We used data from a population-based survey of adults with probable depression (n = 568), and calculated travel distance from households to the nearest public depression treatment provider with network analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). We tested the association between travel distance to the nearest public depression treatment provider and 12 month self-reported use of services for depression. RESULTS: We found no association between travel distance and the probability of seeking treatment for depression (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.98-1.02, p = 0.78). Those living in the immediate vicinity of public depression treatment providers were just as unlikely to seek treatment as those living 20 km or more away by road. There was evidence of interaction effects by caste, employment status and perceived need for health care, but these effect sizes were generally small. CONCLUSIONS: Geographic accessibility - as measured by travel distance - is not the primary barrier to seeking treatment for depression in rural India. Reducing travel distance to public mental health services will not of itself reduce the depression treatment gap for depression, at least in this setting, and decisions about the best platform to deliver mental health services should not be made on this basis.

A female case of Kallmann's syndrome.

A case of 20-year-old woman with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and anosmia is reported, since very few female cases of Kallmann's syndrome have been reported so far in Japan. Three uncles on the father's side had no children. Height was 168 cm, and arm span 165 cm. The olfactory test revealed complete anosmia. Bone age was 13 year. Chromosome was 46 XX and normal karyotype. Basal levels of serum FSH, LH and estrogens (E1, E2 and E3) were low. Serum FSH and LH levels rose slightly only after LH-RH administration, and did not increase in clomiphene test. Plasma estrogens did not increase after daily injection of 150 IU of HMG for 3 successive days. The response of serum GH to arginine infusion was normal, while that to insulin-induced hypoglycemia was poor.