Incidence rates of treated mental disorders before and during the COVID-19 pandemic - a nationwide study comparing trends in the period 2015 to 2021 (preprint)

Background: There is a concern that exposure to psychosocial stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic may have led to a higher incidence of mental disorders. Thus, this study aimed to compare trends in incidence rates of depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and eating disorders in primary- and specialist health care before (2015-2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021). Methods: We used aggregated population registry data to calculate incidence rates of mental disorders from primary (The Norwegian Control and Payment of Health Reimbursement Registry (KUHR)) and specialist (The Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR)) health care. The analyses included all Norwegian residents aged 18-65 during the study period. Incident cases were defined as having no previous registration with the same mental disorder in KUHR (from 2006) or NPR (from 2008). We used linear prediction models and mean models to compare incidence rates and test trends before and during the pandemic. Results: During the pandemic, the incidence rates among women were higher or as predicted for OCD in specialist care and for eating disorders in both primary and specialist care. Incidence rates for depression and phobia/OCD among both genders in primary care and phobic anxiety disorders among both genders in specialist care were lower or as predicted. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic may have led to more women needing treatment for OCD and eating disorders in the Norwegian population. The decreased incidence rates for some disorders might indicate that some individuals either avoided seeking help or had improved mental health during the pandemic.

Contact with primary care physicians among adults with pre-existing common mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic: a registry-based study from Norway (preprint)

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals with pre-existing mental health problems may have experienced additional stress, which could worsen symptoms or trigger relapse. Objective: To investigate if the number of consultations with general practitioners (GPs) among individuals with a pre-existing common mental health problem during the pandemic differed from pre-pandemic years. Methods: Data on consultations with GPs among 18-65-year-olds registered with common mental health problems in 2017-2021 were retrieved from the Norwegian Control and Payment of Health Reimbursement register. Based on data from the pre-pandemic years (2017-2019), we predicted the number of consultations per week for depression, anxiety disorder, phobia/obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and eating disorders during the pandemic (March 2020-December 2021) among individuals with pre-existing mental health problems. The forecasted and observed trends in GP consultations per week during the pandemic were stratified by diagnosis, gender, and age groups. Results: The observed number of consultations for anxiety disorder, PTSD, and eating disorders were significantly higher than forecasted during extended periods of the two pandemic years. The differences were largest for PTSD (on average 37% higher in men and 47% higher in women during the pandemic), and for eating disorders among women (on average 87% higher during the pandemic). There were only minor differences between the predicted and observed number of consultations for depression and phobia/OCD. Conclusions: During the pandemic, individuals with a recent history of mental health problems were more likely to seek help for anxiety disorder, PTSD, and eating disorders, as compared to pre-pandemic years.