Citation

Marko D, Linder SH, Tullar JM, Reynolds TF, Estes LJ. Community Ment. Health J. 2014; 51(6): 708-714.

Affiliation

Institute for Health Policy, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA, Dritana.Marko@uth.tmc.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10597-014-9790-z

PMID

25535042

Abstract

While there are state and national estimates of serious psychological distress (SPD), these are not useful for targeting local mental health interventions or for addressing the needs of sub-populations at increased risk for SPD. This cross-sectional study uses data from the population-based 2010 Health of Houston Survey (n = 5,116) to examine (1) the prevalence of SPD and its determinants in Houston area and (2) predictors of the utilization of mental health services among people with SPD. The prevalence of SPD among the Houston area adult population was 7 %, more than twice the national average. Correlates of SPD included: being female, under 65, lacking emotional support, smoking, having poor health status and financial distress. The odds of utilizing health services by those with SPD were affected by financial distress, insurance, employment and perceived need for services, among other factors. Interventions should be tailored to mitigate risk factors for SPD and to improve access to mental health services in the SPD sub-population.

Language: en