Association of Having a Primary Care Provider and Visiting a Mental Health Professional

Our objective was to examine the association of having a primary care provider (PCP) with visiting a mental health provider (MHP) in the past year among a nationally representative sample. Data came from the 2011-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Respondents were coded as seeing an MHP within the past year (no/yes) from the question, “During the past 12 months, have you seen or talked to a mental health professional such as a psychologist, psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse or clinical social worker about your health?” Having a PCP (no/yes) was derived from two questions regarding whether the respondent had a routine place of care, and if so, the type of place. Respondents who answered, “Doctor’s office or HMO,” “Hospital outpatient department,” and “Clinic or health center” were coded as having a PCP; “Hospital emergency room” and “Doesn’t go to one place most often” were coded as not having a PCP. Logistic regressions examined the association of having a PCP with a past-year visit to an MHP, controlling for demographics and health insurance status. In this nationally representative sample of adults, those who had a PCP were more likely to have visited an MHP in the past year. Previous research suggests several reasons for this association, including PCPs using screening tools like the PHQ-9 and referring patients to MHPs. Future studies are needed to explore the specific barriers that patients face in accessing mental health care after being referred by a PCP.

Author dc:creator

• Viviana Uribe (24399521)

• Primary Care
• mental health

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.25417/uic.32993972.v1

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:figshare.com:article/32993972