People with mental disorders go to the doctor twice as much

People with mental health disorders go to the doctor almost twice as often, according to a study led by the Hospital Clínic Barcelona-Idibapswhich analyzes at a population level the patterns of diagnosis, treatment and use of mental health services in Catalonia.

The Padris-Presto cohort has been created, a database that collects information from more than 1.4 million of people in Catalonia between 2010 and 2019: of these 473,812 They are patient and 947,698 They are people without a psychiatric diagnosis, the Hospital Clínic reported this Monday in a statement.

During the study period, more than 76 million views to primary care and close to 9.3 million of visits to specialized mental health services in the cohort.

From visits to primary care, 39,210,518 correspond to the control group and 37,030,721 to the group of patients, a fact that implies that each case made approximately 81 visits during the study, while each person in the control group made 41.

“In other words, people with mental disorders use health services almost twice as much as the population without a psychiatric diagnosis,” the authors noted.

Regarding visits to specialized mental health services, practically all the activity corresponds to the patient group: 9,294,146 visits in patients and 24,669 in the control group.

Among the 473,812 patients who accessed specialized mental health services, anxiety disorders (31.38%) and mood (18.83%) were the most common, and high rates of behavioral and emotional disorders were also detected in children and adolescents, highlighting the need for specific interventions at these stages.

Regarding pharmacological treatments, more than 67 million of prescriptions in the cohort, an important part antidepressants and anxiolytics, which according to the authors reflects the clinical complexity and therapeutic needs of this population.

More economic vulnerability

People with mental health disorders have greater economic vulnerability, with more copay exemptions and less presence in income brackets medium and high, according to the study.

The study has observed a higher prevalence of smoking, 48.6% in cases against a 37.2% in people without a diagnosis, and of physical comorbidities with musculoskeletal disorders, hypertension or diabetes.