Medical Debt Common in Adults With Depression, Anxiety

MONDAY, July 22, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Medical debt is common among adults with depression and anxiety and may contribute to the mental health treatment gap, according to a study published online July 17 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Kyle J. Moon, from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, and colleagues estimated the prevalence of medical debt among U.S. adults with depression and anxiety and its association with delayed and forgone mental health care. Analysis included data from 27,651 adult participants in the 2022 National Health Interview Survey.

The researchers found that medical debt was more common among adults with lifetime depression (19.9 versus 8.6 percent), lifetime anxiety (19.4 versus 8.8 percent), current depression (27.3 versus 9.4 percent), and current anxiety (26.2 versus 9.6 percent) compared to adults without the respective mental disorders. Compared to adults without these diagnoses, medical debt was associated with delayed health care among those with lifetime depression (29.0 versus 11.6 percent), lifetime anxiety (28.0 versus 11.5 percent), current depression (36.9 versus 17.4 percent), and current anxiety (38.4 versus 16.9 percent). Similarly, medical debt was associated with forgone health care among adults with lifetime depression (29.4 versus 10.6 percent), lifetime anxiety (28.2 versus 10.7 percent), current depression (38.0 versus 17.2 percent), and current anxiety (40.8 versus 17.1 percent).

“Medical debt is prevalent among adults with depression and anxiety and may contribute to the mental health treatment gap,” the authors write. “In the absence of structural reform, new policies are warranted to protect against this financial barrier to mental health care.”

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