Mental Health Treatment Disparities for Major Depressive Episodes Experienced by Adults Aged 18 or Older in the United States

Background: The percentage of adults aged 18 or older who had past year major depressive episode (MDE) has increased from 6.6% in 2005 to 6.9% in 2012. About one-third of the adults aged 18 or older with past year MDE did not receive treatment for their depression. The rates of treatment for mental health problems among adults differed by gender and racial/ethnic groups. Among racial/ethnic groups, past year mental health service utilization among adults aged 18 or older was 7.1% for Hispanics, 10.2% for blacks and 17.8% for whites. Objective: The primary objective of this research is to examine the association between race and mental health treatment among adults aged 18 or older. Data and methods: The data for this research are taken from 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) for ages 18 and older. Several weighted logistic regression models were estimated to assess the association between race and the receipt of mental health treatment among adults aged 18 or older who had MDE in past year. Results: Logistic regression results suggest that blacks are about 0.45% [OR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.50-0.78] significantly (p<0.001) less likely to receive mental health treatment compared to whites. Results also suggest that Hispanics are 76% [OR: 0.24; 95% CI: 0.20-0.80] significantly (p<0.01) less likely to receive mental health treatment compared to whites. Conclusion: Untreated mental illness disrupts affordable health care system and as well as social and economic lives, more so for blacks and Hispanics than for whites in the US.