A new study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reveals significant disparities in the access to telehealth services for mental health care, particularly for patients with depression, based on neighborhood wealth. The research, examining data from mid-2021 through mid-2024, found that individuals from higher-wealth neighborhoods in Maryland were more likely to access mental health care through telehealth compared to their counterparts in lower-wealth neighborhoods.
Telehealth, including phone and web-based teleconferencing, became increasingly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic as in-person health care options were limited and telehealth regulations were relaxed. The study aimed to track how mental health care visits shifted during and after the pandemic.
Researchers analyzed deidentified electronic health records from the Johns Hopkins Health System, spanning from mid-2016 to mid-2024, for patients diagnosed with depression. They used the Area Deprivation Index, a tool that measures overall socioeconomic deprivation at the Census-block-group level, to categorize patients based on neighborhood wealth. This index considers factors such as income, education, employment, and housing quality. The study compared patients from the wealthiest and poorest quartiles of the index.
The findings revealed a marked increase in telehealth use during the pandemic. Prior to 2020, only a small number of patients in the study cohort had utilized telehealth for mental health care. However, during the pandemic, telehealth visits peaked in mid-2020 and remained a significant method of care delivery through mid-2024. From mid-2021 to mid-2024, 65% of mental health visits in psychiatry and 24% in primary care were conducted via telehealth.
The study, published online on February 14 in PNAS Nexus, highlights how wealth disparities continue to influence access to essential mental health services, with wealthier neighborhoods benefitting more from telehealth opportunities. The research underscores the ongoing need to address these inequities to ensure equitable access to mental health care for all populations.
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