Contact with primary care physicians among adults with pre-existing common mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic: a registry-based study from Norway

BMC Health Services Research

Research

Unnur Anna Valdimarsdóttir¹  Ragnhild Eek Brandlistuen²  Christian Madsen³  Ann Kristin Skrindo Knudsen³  Ragnar Nesvåg⁴  Kristin Gustavson⁵  Johanne Hagen Pettersen⁵  Pia Jensen⁵  Helga Ask⁵  Ingunn Olea Lund⁵  Anne Reneflot⁶  Lars Johan Hauge⁶ 

[1] Centre of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland;Unit of Integrative Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden;Department of Epidemiology, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA;Department of Child Health and Development, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway;Department of Disease Burden, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Bergen, Norway;Department of Mental Disorders, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway;Department of Mental Disorders, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway;Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway;Department of Mental Health and Suicide, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway;

关键词: Covid-19;    Mental health problems;    Adults;    Primary care;    Health registry;    Service utilization;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12913-023-10108-3

 received in 2023-05-03, accepted in 2023-10-03,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals with pre-existing mental health problems may have experienced additional stress, which could worsen symptoms or trigger relapse. Thus, this study aimed to investigate if the number of consultations with general practitioners (GPs) among individuals with a pre-existing common mental health problem during the pandemic differed from pre-pandemic years.MethodsData on consultations with GPs among 18–65-year-olds registered with common mental health problems in 2017–2021 were retrieved from the Norwegian Control and Payment of Health Reimbursements Database. Based on data from the pre-pandemic years (2017–2019), we predicted the number of consultations per week for depression, anxiety disorder, phobia/obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and eating disorders during the pandemic (March 2020-December 2021) among individuals with pre-existing mental health problems. The forecasted and observed trends in GP consultations per week during the pandemic were stratified by diagnosis, gender, and age groups.ResultsThe observed number of consultations for anxiety disorder, PTSD, and eating disorders were significantly higher than forecasted during extended periods of the two pandemic years. The differences were largest for PTSD (on average 37% higher in men and 47% higher in women during the pandemic), and for eating disorders among women (on average 87% higher during the pandemic). There were only minor differences between the predicted and observed number of consultations for depression and phobia/OCD.ConclusionsDuring the pandemic, individuals with a recent history of mental health problems were more likely to seek help for anxiety disorder, PTSD, and eating disorders, as compared to pre-pandemic years.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

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