title: Delays in depression treatment among Korean population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Delays in mental health service utilization for patients with depression have been observed globally. To elucidate some aspects of delays, age-related associations with a series of variables representing different stages of mental health service use were studied concurrently.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1,433 patients with depression participated in a nationwide Korean Depressive Patient Survey through the collaboration of 70 psychiatric clinics and hospitals. Using logistic and Poisson regression, we investigated whether there is variation in the associations by age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with depression in South Korea spent 3.4 years on average before starting a first depression treatment after the onset of depression, and 58% of them entered depression treatment in the first year of onset. Early onset appeared to lower the chance of "early depression treatment": e.g., adjusted odds ratio (OR)s for onset age of 40-54, 25-39 and <25 versus ≥55 were 0.65 (95% CI = 0.44, 0.94), 0.36 (95% CI = 0.16, 0.81) and 0.18 (95% CI = 0.06, 0.48), respectively. In contrast, favorable associations of early onset with "self-recognition as depression" and "number of nonpsychiatric clinics attended" before visiting psychiatrist were found. Younger cohorts were associated with more positive attitudes toward all mental health utilization measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Delays in depression treatment are lengthy in South Korea. Those with early onset are more likely to have delayed depression treatment but are more willing to seek help from a psychiatrist once they sought for the treatment.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine, Eulji University, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Myung
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ki
authors.forename: Jong-Woo
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Paik
authors.forename: Kyeong-Sook
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Seung-Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.forename: Changsu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Kangjoon
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Byung Joo
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Ham
authors.forename: Hun Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Eun-Soo
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Won
authors.forename: Tae-Youn
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Jun
authors.forename: Min-Soo
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012648:Self Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D061665:Time-to-Treatment
keywords: age of onset; depression; duration of untreated depression; mental health service; self-recognition