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Title: | The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Registration and Care Provision of Mental Health Problems in General Practice: Registry-Based Study | Authors: | Vandamme, Jan Beerten, Simon Gabriel CREVECOEUR, Jonas Bulck, Steve Van den Aertgeerts, Bert Delvaux, Nicolas Van Pottelbergh, Gijs Vermandere, Mieke Tops, Laura NEYENS, Thomas Vaes, Bert |
Issue Date: | 2023 | Publisher: | JMIR PUBLICATIONS, INC | Source: | JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 9 (1) (Art N° e43049) | Abstract: | Background: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in general practice remains uncertain. Several studies showed an increase in terms of mental health problems during the pandemic. In Belgium, especially during the first waves of the pandemic, access to general practice was limited. Specifically, it is unclear how this impacted not only the registration of mental health problems itself but also the care for patients with an existing mental health problem. Objective: This study aimed to know the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on (1) the incidence of newly registered mental health problems and (2) the provision of care for patients with mental health problems in general practice, both using a pre-COVID-19 baseline.Methods: The prepandemic volume of provided care (care provision) for patients with mental health problems was compared to that from 2020-2021 by using INTEGO, a Belgian general practice morbidity registry. Care provision was defined as the total number of new registrations in a patient's electronic medical record. Regression models evaluated the association of demographic factors and care provision in patients with mental health problems, both before and during the pandemic. Results: During the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of registered mental health problems showed a fluctuating course, with a sharp drop in registrations during the first wave. Registrations for depression and anxiety increased, whereas the incidence of registered eating disorders, substance abuse, and personality problems decreased. During the 5 COVID-19 waves, the overall incidence of registered mental health problems dropped during the wave and rose again when measures were relaxed. A relative rise of 8.7% and 40% in volume of provided care, specifically for patients with mental health problems, was seen during the first and second years of the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. Care provision for patients with mental health problems was higher in older patients, male patients, patients living in center cities (centrumsteden), patients with lower socioeconomic status (SES), native Belgian patients, and patients with acute rather than chronic mental health problems. Compared to prepandemic care provision, a reduction of 10% was observed in people with a low SES. Conclusions: This study showed (1) a relative overall increase in the registrations of mental health problems in general practice and (2) an increase in care provision for patients with mental health problems in the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Low SES remained a determining factor for more care provision, but care provision dropped significantly in people with mental health problems with a low SES. Our findings suggest that the pandemic in Belgium was also largely a "syndemic," affecting different layers of the population disproportionately. | Notes: | Beerten, SG (corresponding author), Acad Ctr Gen Practice Dept Publ Hlth, Primary Care KU Leuven Kapucijnenvoer blok bus 7 h, 3000, B-7001 Leuven, Belgium. simon.beerten@kuleuven.be |
Keywords: | COVID-19;mental health;care provision;general practice;socioeconomic status | Document URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/1942/40032 | ISSN: | 2369-2960 | e-ISSN: | 2369-2960 | DOI: | 10.2196/43049 | ISI #: | 000959907600001 | Rights: | Jan Vandamme, Simon Gabriël Beerten, Jonas Crèvecoeur, Steve Van den Bulck, Bert Aertgeerts, Nicolas Delvaux, Gijs Van Pottelbergh, Mieke Vermandere, Laura Tops, Thomas Neyens, Bert Vaes. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (https://publichealth.jmir.org), 10.03.2023. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://publichealth.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included. | Category: | A1 | Type: | Journal Contribution |
Appears in Collections: | Research publications |
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