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Health Service Use for Mental Health Reasons in a Cohort of People Who Use Methamphetamine Experiencing Moderate to Severe Anxiety or Depression.

Duncan Z, Kippen R, Sutton K, Ward B, Quinn B, Dietze P

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  • Published 25 Jul 2022

  • Volume Epub ahead of print

  • DOI 10.1007/s11469-022-00889-9

Abstract

This study examined health service use for mental health reasons in a cohort of people who use methamphetamine and experience anxiety or depression. Data were derived from baseline surveys of a subset of 429 participants from the ‘VMAX’ study. Anxiety and depression were measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 instruments and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Sequential logistic regression determined correlates of health service use for mental health reasons. Lower odds of health service use for mental health reasons were evident for those living in a medium/small rural town (aOR=0.27, CI=0.12, 0.62),≥weekly methamphetamine use (aOR=0.51, CI=0.27, 0.99), and not utilising professional support for methamphetamine use in the 12 months prior (aOR=0.19, CI=0.12, 0.30). People who use methamphetamine frequently use health services for mental health issues. Further work is needed to determine the efectiveness of these services for this population.