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Unmet Need for Medical Care: The Role of Mental Health Status

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Abstract

Mental health status is an important factor to consider when exploring correlates of unmet need for medical care and prescription drugs. This paper explores whether self-rated mental health status is associated with unmet need and delays in obtaining medical care and prescription drugs. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression with 27,305 non-institutionalized adults aged 18 and older from the 2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey explore factors associated with self-reported unmet need for medical care and prescriptions, as well as access delays. Patients with lower physical and mental health status had the highest odds of experiencing unmet need for medical care and prescriptions, as well as access delays. These findings highlight the importance of increasing access to a usual source of care among individuals with lower self-rated mental health status as a strategy for addressing unmet need.

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Acknowledgements

Sam Zuvekas of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality provided valuable feedback on the conceptual core of this paper. Kirsten Beronio, formerly of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the Department of Health and Human Services, also provided valuable feedback. There are no funding sources or conflicts of interest to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science Policy Branch, Office of Science Policy and Communications, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, 6001, Executive Boulevard #5232, Rockville, MD, 20852, USA

    Emily B. Jones

  2. Department of Health Policy and Management, The Milken Institute School of Public Health and Health Services, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Emily B. Jones

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  1. Emily B. Jones
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Correspondence to Emily B. Jones.

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Emily B. Jones wrote this paper when he was at NIH.

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Jones, E.B. Unmet Need for Medical Care: The Role of Mental Health Status. Community Ment Health J 57, 121–127 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00613-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00613-8

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