Journal article
Inequalities in Access to Mental Health Treatment by Australian Youths During the COVID-19 Pandemic
CX Gao, LP McDonald, MP Hamilton, K Simons, JM Menssink, K Filia, D Rickwood, S Rice, I Hickie, PD McGorry, SM Cotton
Psychiatric Services Washington D C | Published : 2023
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 ..
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Grants
Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Awarded by NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship
Funding Acknowledgements
This study was supported by Partnership Grants APP1076940 and APP1198696 from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) . This was a joint project between Orygen, the University of Melbourne, and headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation. Dr. Cotton is supported by NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship APP1136344. The authors acknowledge Services Australia, Australian Government Department of Health, for provision of data examined in this study.