Utilization of Physician-Based Mental Health Care Services Among Children and Adolescents Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ontario, Canada.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Public health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 have heightened distress among children and adolescents and contributed to a shift in delivery of mental health care services.

Objectives

To measure and compare physician-based outpatient mental health care utilization before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and quantify the extent of uptake of virtual care delivery.

Design, setting, and participants

Population-based repeated cross-sectional study using linked health and administrative databases in Ontario, Canada. All individuals aged 3 to 17 years residing in Ontario from January 1, 2017, to February 28, 2021.

Exposures

Pre-COVID-19 period from January 1, 2017, to February 29, 2020, and post-COVID-19 onset from March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2

SUBMITTER: Saunders NR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8822447 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature