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

This study published in the European Journal of Public Health, aims to address growing concerns 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) authors from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health , University of Oslo and Stavanger University Hospital 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.

Key Points

• Met and unmet need for mental health care before and during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway was compared between individuals with current mental disorders, a previous history of mental disorders and no history of mental disorders.
• There was no statistically significant difference in proportions reporting met and unmet need for mental health care before and during the pandemic among those with a previous history of mental disorder, nor among those with no history of mental disorder.
• There was no statistically significant difference in proportions reporting met need for mental health care before and during the pandemic among those with a current mental disorder.
• Point estimates and borderline statistical significance were suggestive of a higher proportion reporting unmet need for mental health care after the lock-down period compared to before the pandemic among those with a current mental disorder.

Find the full article (in English) here.