IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2022i1p651-d1019895.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mental Health Treatment Reported by US Workers before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: United States (2019–2020)

Author

Listed:
  • Ja K. Gu

    (Bioanalytics Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA)

  • Luenda E. Charles

    (Bioanalytics Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA)

  • Penelope Allison

    (Bioanalytics Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA)

  • John M. Violanti

    (Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14214, USA)

  • Michael E. Andrew

    (Bioanalytics Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced a significant and unprecedented exacerbation of community mental health challenges. We compared the prevalence of mental health treatment (MHT) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among US workers. Self-reported MHT data (N = 30,680) were obtained from the Sample Adult data of the National Health Interview Survey (2019 and 2020). MHT was defined as having taken prescription medications for mental health issues or receiving counseling from a mental health professional in the past 12 months. We calculated age-adjusted prevalence estimates and employed t -tests to compare MHT in 2019 and 2020 using SAS-callable SUDAAN 11.0. The prevalence of MHT significantly increased from 16.3% in 2019 to 17.6% in 2020 (difference = 1.3, p = 0.030). The prevalence of taking prescription medications for mental health issues significantly increased in 2020 compared to 2019 (12.5% to 13.6%, difference = 1.1, p = 0.037). The prevalence of receiving counseling significantly increased but only among those who worked 30–49 h/week, difference = 1.2, p = 0.022. US workers, especially those with typical work hours, appeared to experience higher mental distress during the first year of the pandemic compared to the year prior to the pandemic period. These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to address mental health issues in these workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Ja K. Gu & Luenda E. Charles & Penelope Allison & John M. Violanti & Michael E. Andrew, 2022. "Mental Health Treatment Reported by US Workers before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: United States (2019–2020)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2022:i:1:p:651-:d:1019895
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/651/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/651/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Antonio José Sánchez-Guarnido & Nuria Hidalgo & Jorge Arenas de la Cruz & Inmaculada Esteban & Silvia Mondón & Carlos Herruzo, 2021. "Analysis of the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on People with Severe Mental Disorders," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-11, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ezzeddine Belgacem Mosbah & Parakramaweera Sunil Dharmapala, 2022. "Evaluating the Effects of COVID-19 and Vaccination on Employment Behaviour: A Panel Data Analysis Acrossthe World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-14, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2022:i:1:p:651-:d:1019895. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.