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Impact of stigma on use of mental health services by elderly Koreans

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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study compared the factors associated with the utilization of mental health services across various age cohorts, with a particular focus on the differential influence of the stigma placed on mental illness on the use of these services.

Methods

The present study used data from a Korean national epidemiological survey of mental disorders among community-dwelling adults aged 18–74 years (n = 3,055). The subjects were categorized into three age groups: young (18–39), middle-aged (40–59), and late adulthood (60–74). The Perceived Devaluation-Discrimination scale was used to assess the stigma placed on mental disorders in each group. The influence of perceived stigma on lifetime utilization of mental health services was examined according to age cohort using multiple logistic regression analyses that were adjusted for various sociodemographic factors (p < 0.006 with a Bonferroni correction).

Results

The late-adulthood cohort was more likely to have perceived stigma of mental illness than were the other two groups, and the utilization of mental health services by the elderly cohort was more strongly affected by this perceived stigma than was such utilization by younger cohorts [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 4.14, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.86–9.22]. In the middle-aged cohort, being female or never being married was a significant determinant of use of mental health services (female, AOR 3.80, 95 % CI 2.17–6.65; unmarried, AOR 3.09, 95 % CI 1.43–6.70).

Conclusion

It is important to reduce the perceived stigma placed on mental illness to improve access to mental health care among the current population of elderly people in Korea.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, which had no role in study design; the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; the writing of the report; or the decision.

Conflict of interest

None declared.

Ethics statement

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Seoul National University Hospital.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine and Hospital, 101, Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 110-744, Republic of Korea

    Jee Eun Park, Jun-Young Lee, Jee Hoon Sohn & Maeng Je Cho

  2. Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Jee Eun Park, Jee Hoon Sohn & Maeng Je Cho

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Gachon Medical School, Gachon University of Medicine and Science, Incheon, Republic of Korea

    Seong-Jin Cho

  4. Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul Metropolitan Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Jun-Young Lee

  5. Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea

    Su Jeong Seong

  6. Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, ASU Psychology Building, 651 E. University Drive, P.O. Box 871104, Tempe, AZ, 85287-1104, USA

    Hye Won Suk

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  1. Jee Eun Park
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  2. Seong-Jin Cho
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  7. Maeng Je Cho
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Correspondence to Maeng Je Cho.

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Park, J.E., Cho, SJ., Lee, JY. et al. Impact of stigma on use of mental health services by elderly Koreans. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 50, 757–766 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-014-0991-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-014-0991-0

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