Access to Mental Health Care during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Results from the COMET Multicentric Study
The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented public health emergency, with consequences at the political, social, and economic levels. Mental health services have been called to play a key role in facing the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of the general population. In the period Ma...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/11/1413 |
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| author | Giulia Menculini Alfonso Tortorella Umberto Albert Claudia Carmassi Giuseppe Carrà Francesca Cirulli Bernardo Dell’Osso Mario Luciano Maria Giulia Nanni Maurizio Pompili Gabriele Sani Umberto Volpe Andrea Fiorillo Gaia Sampogna |
| author_facet | Giulia Menculini Alfonso Tortorella Umberto Albert Claudia Carmassi Giuseppe Carrà Francesca Cirulli Bernardo Dell’Osso Mario Luciano Maria Giulia Nanni Maurizio Pompili Gabriele Sani Umberto Volpe Andrea Fiorillo Gaia Sampogna |
| author_sort | Giulia Menculini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented public health emergency, with consequences at the political, social, and economic levels. Mental health services have been called to play a key role in facing the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of the general population. In the period March–May 2020, an online survey was implemented as part of the Covid Mental Health Trial (COMET), a multicentric collaborative study carried out in Italy, one of the Western countries most severely hit by the pandemic. The present study aims to investigate the use of mental health resources during the first wave of the pandemic. The final sample consisted of 20,712 participants, mainly females (<i>N</i> = 14,712, 71%) with a mean age of 40.4 ± 14.3 years. Access to mental health services was reported in 7.7% of cases. Among those referred to mental health services, in 93.9% of cases (<i>N</i> = 1503 subjects) a psychological assessment was requested and in 15.7% of cases (<i>N</i> = 252) a psychiatric consultation. People reporting higher levels of perceived loneliness (OR 1.079, 95% CI 1.056–1.101, <i>p</i> < 0.001), practicing smart-working (OR 1.122, 95% CI 0.980–1.285, <i>p</i> = 0.095), using avoidant (OR 1.586, 95% CI 1.458–1.725, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and approach (OR 1.215, 95% CI 1.138–1.299, <i>p</i> < 0.001) coping strategies more frequently accessed mental health services. On the other hand, having higher levels of perceived social support (OR 0.833, 95% CI 0.795–0.873, <i>p</i> < 0.001) was associated with a reduced probability to access mental health services. The COVID-19 pandemic represents a new threat to the mental health and well-being of the general population, therefore specific strategies should be implemented to promote access to mental healthcare during the pandemic and afterwards. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:39:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dcccee4add4d4a7ba088728fdccad5e5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:39:45Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-dcccee4add4d4a7ba088728fdccad5e52023-11-22T22:37:18ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252021-10-011111141310.3390/brainsci11111413Access to Mental Health Care during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Results from the COMET Multicentric StudyGiulia Menculini0Alfonso Tortorella1Umberto Albert2Claudia Carmassi3Giuseppe Carrà4Francesca Cirulli5Bernardo Dell’Osso6Mario Luciano7Maria Giulia Nanni8Maurizio Pompili9Gabriele Sani10Umberto Volpe11Andrea Fiorillo12Gaia Sampogna13Department of Psychiatry, University of Perugia, Piazza Lucio Severi 1, 06132 Perugia, ItalyDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Perugia, Piazza Lucio Severi 1, 06132 Perugia, ItalyDepartment of Medicine, Surgery and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, 34128 Trieste, ItalyDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan Bicocca, 20126 Milano, ItalyCenter for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences “Luigi Sacco”, University of Milan, 20157 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Largo Madonna delle Grazie, 80138 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical and Specialty Surgical Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, ItalyDepartment of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, University Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, ItalyClinical Psychiatry Unit, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60121 Ancona, ItalyDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Largo Madonna delle Grazie, 80138 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Largo Madonna delle Grazie, 80138 Naples, ItalyThe COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented public health emergency, with consequences at the political, social, and economic levels. Mental health services have been called to play a key role in facing the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of the general population. In the period March–May 2020, an online survey was implemented as part of the Covid Mental Health Trial (COMET), a multicentric collaborative study carried out in Italy, one of the Western countries most severely hit by the pandemic. The present study aims to investigate the use of mental health resources during the first wave of the pandemic. The final sample consisted of 20,712 participants, mainly females (<i>N</i> = 14,712, 71%) with a mean age of 40.4 ± 14.3 years. Access to mental health services was reported in 7.7% of cases. Among those referred to mental health services, in 93.9% of cases (<i>N</i> = 1503 subjects) a psychological assessment was requested and in 15.7% of cases (<i>N</i> = 252) a psychiatric consultation. People reporting higher levels of perceived loneliness (OR 1.079, 95% CI 1.056–1.101, <i>p</i> < 0.001), practicing smart-working (OR 1.122, 95% CI 0.980–1.285, <i>p</i> = 0.095), using avoidant (OR 1.586, 95% CI 1.458–1.725, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and approach (OR 1.215, 95% CI 1.138–1.299, <i>p</i> < 0.001) coping strategies more frequently accessed mental health services. On the other hand, having higher levels of perceived social support (OR 0.833, 95% CI 0.795–0.873, <i>p</i> < 0.001) was associated with a reduced probability to access mental health services. The COVID-19 pandemic represents a new threat to the mental health and well-being of the general population, therefore specific strategies should be implemented to promote access to mental healthcare during the pandemic and afterwards.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/11/1413COVID-19lockdownaccess to caremental health servicespsychiatric carestress |
| spellingShingle | Giulia Menculini Alfonso Tortorella Umberto Albert Claudia Carmassi Giuseppe Carrà Francesca Cirulli Bernardo Dell’Osso Mario Luciano Maria Giulia Nanni Maurizio Pompili Gabriele Sani Umberto Volpe Andrea Fiorillo Gaia Sampogna Access to Mental Health Care during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Results from the COMET Multicentric Study Brain Sciences COVID-19 lockdown access to care mental health services psychiatric care stress |
| title | Access to Mental Health Care during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Results from the COMET Multicentric Study |
| title_full | Access to Mental Health Care during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Results from the COMET Multicentric Study |
| title_fullStr | Access to Mental Health Care during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Results from the COMET Multicentric Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Access to Mental Health Care during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Results from the COMET Multicentric Study |
| title_short | Access to Mental Health Care during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Results from the COMET Multicentric Study |
| title_sort | access to mental health care during the first wave of the covid 19 pandemic in italy results from the comet multicentric study |
| topic | COVID-19 lockdown access to care mental health services psychiatric care stress |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/11/1413 |
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