Perceived unmet need for mental health care for Canadians with co-occurring mental and substance use disorders.
OBJECTIVE
Previous analyses demonstrated an elevated occurrence of perceived unmet need for mental health care among persons with co-occurring mental and substance use disorders in comparison with those with either disorder. This study built on previous work to examine these associations and underlying reasons in more detail.


METHODS
Secondary data analyses were performed on a subset of respondents to the 2002 Canadian Community Health Survey (unweighted N=4,052). Diagnostic algorithms classified respondents by past-year substance dependence and selected mood and anxiety disorders. Logistic regressions examined the associations between diagnoses and unmet need in the previous year, accounting for recent service use and potential predisposing, enabling, and need factors often associated with help seeking. Self-reported reasons underlying unmet need were also tabulated across diagnostic groups.


RESULTS
Of persons with a disorder, 22% reported a 12-month unmet need for care. With controls for service use and other potential confounders, the odds of unmet need were significantly elevated among persons with co-occurring disorders (adjusted odds ratio=3.25; 95% confidence interval=1.96-5.37). Most commonly, the underlying reason involved a preference to self-manage symptoms or not getting around to seeking care, with some variation by diagnosis.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings highlight potential problems for individuals with mental and substance use disorders in accessing services. The elevated occurrence of perceived unmet need appeared to be relatively less affected by contact with the health care system than by generalized distress and problem severity. Issues such as stigma, motivation, and satisfaction with past services may influence help-seeking patterns and perceptions of unmet need and should be examined in future work.
Urbanoski
Karen A
KA
Health Systems Research and Consulting Unit, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health T306, 33 Russell St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2S1. karen_urbanoski@camh.net
Cairney
John
J
Bassani
Diego G
DG
Rush
Brian R
BR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires