Met and unmet need for mental health care before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Ann Kristin Skrindo Knudsen; Jens Christoffer Skogen; Kim Stene-Larsen; Kristin Gustavson; Anne Reneflot

doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckab183

Met and unmet need for mental health care before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Eur J Public Health. 2022 Feb 1;32(1):49-51. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckab183.

Authors

Ann Kristin Skrindo Knudsen¹, Jens Christoffer Skogen^{2

3

4}, Kim Stene-Larsen⁵, Kristin Gustavson^{6

7}, Anne Reneflot⁵

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Disease Burden, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Bergen, Norway.
² Department of Health Promotion, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Bergen, Norway.
³ Centre for Alcohol & Drug Research, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway.
⁴ Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.
⁵ Department of Mental Health and Suicide, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
⁶ Department of Mental Disorders, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
⁷ Department of Psychology, PROMENTA Research Center, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

Abstract

There is a concern that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic will generate large unmet needs for mental health care. Using data from an epidemiological psychiatric diagnostic interview survey (n = 2159) conducted on a probability sample from the general population, the proportions of met and unmet need for mental health care among individuals with and without mental disorders were compared before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results showed no statistical difference in met and unmet need for mental health care, but point estimates were suggestive of a higher unmet need for care among those with a current mental disorder after the lock-down period.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Communicable Disease Control
Health Services Needs and Demand
Humans
Mental Disorders* / epidemiology
Mental Disorders* / therapy
Mental Health
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2