Physician Health Care Visits for Mental Health and Substance Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ontario, Canada.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Physicians self-report high levels of symptoms of anxiety and depression, and surveys suggest these symptoms have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is not known whether pandemic-related stressors have led to increases in health care visits related to mental health or substance use among physicians.

Objective

To evaluate the association between the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in outpatient health care visits by physicians related to mental health and substance use and explore differences across physician subgroups of interest.

Design, setting, and participants

A population-based cohort study was conducted using health administrative data collected from the universal health system (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) of Ontario, Canada, from

SUBMITTER: Myran DT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8783265 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature