Factors associated with change in moderate or severe symptoms of anxiety and depression in community-living adults and older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic
Researchers explored changes in moderate or severe symptoms of anxiety or depression (MSSANXDEP) from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, and examined associated sociodemographic, economic, psychosocial, health behavior and lifestyle, and clinical factors. Data from 59,997 participants from the five established cohorts of the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath) were used. Analyses indicated that certain sociodemographic, economic, lifestyle, health behavior, psychosocial, and clinical factors were associated with remitted, incident, and persistent MSSANXDEP.
Factors associated with mental health service use during the pandemic: Initiation and barriers
This study aimed to understand the factors associated with initiating new mental health service use (MHSU) during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as distinguishing between different reasons for not seeking mental health services. The research found that several factors influenced MHSU, such as age, living situation, income, and health professional status. The study suggests the need for awareness campaigns targeting older adults to explain the importance of seeking treatment and for sensitizing health professionals to facilitate access to mental health care for individuals at risk of social isolation and lower socioeconomic status.
Mental health service use and associated predisposing, enabling and need factors in community living adults and older adults across Canada
The authors utilized data from the CanPath COVID-19 health survey (May to December 2020) to conduct multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine the association between mental health service use (MHSU) and predisposing, enabling, and need factors — derived from Andersen’s model of healthcare-seeking behaviour — among five regional cohorts. Among the 45,542 adults in the study population, 6.3% of respondents reported MHSU and need factors were consistently associated with MHSU.