Inequalities in access to mental health treatment by Australian youths during the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract
Objective The authors aimed to evaluate changes in use of government-subsidized primary mental health services, through the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS), by young people during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and whether changes were associated with age, sex, socioeconomic status, and residence in particular geographical areas. Methods Interrupted time-series analyses were conducted by using quarterly mental health MBS service data (all young people ages 12-25 years, 2015-2020) for individual Statistical Area Level 3 areas across Australia. The data captured >22.4 million service records. Meta-analysis and meta-regression models estimated the pandemic interruption effect at the national level and delineated factors influencing these estimates. Results Compared with expected prepandemic trends, a 6.2% (95% CI=5.3%-7.2%) increase was noted for all young people in use of MBS mental health services in 2020. Substantial differences were found between age and sex subgroups, with a higher increase among females and young people ages 18-25. A decreasing trend was observed for males ages 18-25 (3.5% reduction, 95% CI=2.5%-4.5%). The interruption effect was strongly associated with socioeconomic status. Service uptake increased in areas of high socioeconomic status, with smaller or limited uptake in areas of low socioeconomic status. Conclusions During 2020, young people's use of primary mental health services increased overall. However, increases were inequita…
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The demand for youth mental health care has increased, and workforce and skills shortages are a major challenge globally, particularly in low-resource settings.
“The demand for youth mental health care has increased, 230,380-382 and workforce and skills shortages are a major challenge globally, particularly in low-resource settings.”
From The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health (2024) · cites this paper as [380]
Cites
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How mental health care should change as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic
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Self-citationChen, S., Jones, P. B., Underwood, B. R., Moore, A., Bullmore, E. T., Banerjee, S., Osimo, E. F., Deakin, J. B., Hatfield, C. F., Thompson, F. J., et al. (2020) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.09.020 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
Seidler, Z. E., Rice, S. M., Dhillon, H. M., Cotton, S. M., Telford, N. R., McEachran, J., & Rickwood, D. J. (2020) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201900491 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
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The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health
McGorry, P. D., Mei, C., Dalal, N., Alvarez-Jimenez, M., Blakemore, S.-J., Browne, V., Dooley, B., Hickie, I. B., Jones, P. B., McDaid, D., et al. (2024) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(24)00163-9 · Cited by 663 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Gao, C. X., McDonald, L. P., Hamilton, M. P., Simons, K., Menssink, J. M., Filia, K., Rickwood, D., Rice, S., Hickie, I., McGorry, P. D., & Cotton, S. M.
- Affiliations
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Psychiatric Services
- Published
- 2023-06-01
- Volume
- 74
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 581-588
- ISSN
- 0022-1597 (ISSN-L)
- 1075-2730
- 1557-9700
- OpenAlex
- W4310207687
- Cited by
- 25
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 0.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychiatric Services (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychiatric care and mental health services
- Keywords
- access to mental health care, youth mental health, COVID-19 pandemic, Medicare Benefits Schedule, primary care mental health, socioeconomic disparities, gender differences, age differences, regional variation, Australia
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, Australasian People, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Australia, Mental Disorders, Female, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Male, Mental Health, National Health Programs, Healthcare Disparities, Young Adult, Pandemics
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