IJERPH, Vol. 20, Pages 6588: Changes in Children and Youth & rsquo;s Mental Health Presentations during COVID-19: A Study of Primary Care Practices in Northern Ontario, Canada

IJERPH, Vol. 20, Pages 6588: Changes in Children and Youth’s Mental Health Presentations during COVID-19: A Study of Primary Care Practices in Northern Ontario, Canada International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph20166588 Authors: Roya Daneshmand Shreedhar Acharya Barbara Zelek Michael Cotterill Brianne Wood Recent research suggests that children and youth are at increased risk of anxiety and depression due to the indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Canada, children and youths may face additional hurdles in accessing mental health services in rural areas due to socioeconomic disadvantages and healthcare provider shortages worsened by the pandemic. Our study aimed to assess changes in primary healthcare utilization related to depression and anxiety among children and youth aged 10–25 years in Northern Ontario, Canada. We analyzed de-identified electronic medical record data to assess primary healthcare visits and prescriptions for depression and anxiety among children and youth aged 10–25 years. We used provider billing data and reasons for visits and antidepressant/antianxiety prescriptions compared with 21 months pre-pandemic (1 June 2018 to 28 February 2020) and 21 months during the pandemic (1 April 2020 to 31 December 2021). Our interrupted time series analysis showed an average increase in visits by 2.52 per 10,000 person-months and in prescriptions by 6.69 per 10,000 ...
Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research