Prevalence Rates of Depression and Anxiety among Young Rural and Urban Australians: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
The aim of this paper was to estimate the pooled prevalence rates for depression and anxiety among young Australians aged between 10 and 24 years. Selected studies from a systematic literature search were assessed for risk of bias.
The results of this study show that a quarter of Australian young adults aged between 10 and 24 years have depression and/or anxiety. About 26.1% in the urban areas and 24.9% in the rural areas reported prevalence of depression and/or anxiety. While there is ample literature evidence that young people are at the highest risk of developing mental health conditions, and rural Australia experiences lower health outcomes, research continues to be inconclusive in terms of comparing the prevalence.
This is largely hindered by the mental health illiteracy and help-seeking attitude coupled with poor healthcare access and social determinants in the rural areas of Australia. Despite many successful and effective programs to diagnose and treat depression and anxiety, and a big proportion of healthcare budget allocated to treat mental health conditions, Australia continues to have high prevalence of mental health conditions, depression and anxiety precisely.
Kasturi, Sushmitha, Oguoma, Victor M., Grant, Janie Busby, Niyonsenga, Theo, and Mohanty, Itismita (2023). Prevalence rates of depression and anxiety among young rural and urban Australians: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20 (1) 800 1-16.
