Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Center for Community Health, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, 10920 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 350, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA.
Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.
Community Ment Health J. 2023 Jul;59(5):972-985. doi: 10.1007/s10597-022-01081-y. Epub 2023 Jan 7.
This study examined mental health service utilization and disparities during the first year of COVID. We analyzed data from all adult respondents with any mental illness in the past year (n = 6967) in the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to evaluate if mental health service utilization differed by geographic areas, race/ethnicity, and age groups. Only 46% of individuals with any mental illness had received mental health treatment. Compared to non-Hispanic Whites, Asian and Hispanics were less likely to receive outpatient services and prescription medicine. Rural residents received less outpatient treatment compared to large metropolitan residents. No difference was found in telemedicine utilization across area types and race/ethnicity groups. Older individuals were less likely to utilize telemedicine services. Our findings highlighted continued mental health treatment disparities among race/ethnic minorities and other sub-populations during COVID. Targeted strategies are warranted to allow older populations to benefit from telemedicine.
本研究考察了 COVID 期间的心理健康服务利用情况和差异。我们分析了 2020 年全国药物使用和健康调查中所有过去一年有任何精神疾病的成年受访者的数据（n=6967），以评估心理健康服务的利用是否因地理区域、种族/族裔和年龄组而有所不同。只有 46%的任何精神疾病患者接受了心理健康治疗。与非西班牙裔白人相比，亚洲人和西班牙裔人接受门诊服务和处方药的可能性较小。与大城市居民相比，农村居民接受的门诊治疗较少。不同地区类型和种族/族裔群体之间的远程医疗利用率没有差异。老年人使用远程医疗服务的可能性较小。我们的研究结果突出表明，在 COVID 期间，种族/少数族裔和其他亚人群中持续存在心理健康治疗方面的差异。需要采取有针对性的策略，让老年人群受益于远程医疗。
