Factors associated with non-initiation of mental healthcare after detection of poor mental health at a scheduled health check: a cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Poor mental health is an important public health concern, but mental health problems are often under-recognised. Providing feedback to general practitioners (GPs) on their patients' mental health status may improve the identification of cases in need of mental healthcare. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the extent of initiation of mental healthcare after identification of poor mental health and to identify factors associated with non-initiation. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study with 1-year follow-up. SETTING: In a population-based health preventive programme, Check Your Health, we conducted a combined mental and physical health check in Randers Municipality, Denmark, in 2012-2015 in collaboration with local GPs. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 350 individuals aged 30-49 years old with screen-detected poor mental health who had not received mental healthcare within the past year. The cohort was derived from 14 167 randomly selected individuals of whom 52% (n=7348) participated. Mental health was assessed by the mental component summary score of the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey. OUTCOME: The outcome was initiation of mental healthcare. Mental healthcare included psychometric testing by GP, talk therapy by GP, contact with a psychologist, contact with a psychiatrist and psychotropic medication. RESULTS: Within 1 year, 22% (95% CI 18 to 27) of individuals with screen-detected poor mental health initiated mental healthcare. Among individuals who initiated mental healthcare within follow-up, one in six had visited their GP once or less in the preceding year. Male sex (OR: 0.49 (95% CI 0.28 to 0.86)) and less impaired mental health (OR: 0.93 (95% CI 0.89 to 0.98)) were associated with non-initiation of mental healthcare. We found no overall association between socioeconomic factors and initiating mental healthcare. CONCLUSION: Systematic provision of mental health test results to GPs may improve the identification of cases in need of mental healthcare, but does not translate into initiation of mental healthcare. Further research should focus on methods to improve initiation of mental healthcare, especially among men. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02028195.

Initiation and cessation of mental healthcare after mental health screening in primary care: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Mental health (MH) problems have considerable personal and societal implications. Systematic MH screening may raise general practitioners' (GP) awareness of the current need of treatment in their listed patients. The focus of MH screening has so far been on increasing diagnostic rates and treatment of mental disorders, whereas cessation of MH treatment after normal test results has rarely been studied. This study aims to examine the mental healthcare trajectories after MH screening combined with feedback on both positive and negative screening results to the GP. METHODS: This prospective cohort study is based on data from 11,714 randomly selected individuals aged 30-49 years, who were invited to a preventive health check in Denmark during 2012-2015. A total of 5970 (51%) were included. MH status was assessed using the SF-12 Health Survey Mental Component Summary score, and scores were categorised into poor, moderate, and good MH. 'Mental healthcare' within 1 year of follow-up covered the following MH support: psychometric testing by GP, talk therapy by GP, contact to psychologist, contact to psychiatrist, and psychotropic medication. RESULTS: MH was found to be poor in 9%, moderate in 25%, and good in 66% of participants. After 1 year, mental healthcare was initiated in 29% of the participants with poor MH who did not receive mental healthcare at baseline, and mental healthcare was ceased in 44% of the participants with good MH who received mental healthcare at baseline. Odds ratio (OR) for initiation of mental healthcare was associated with worse MH screening status: poor MH: OR 7.1 (5.4-9.4), moderate MH: OR 2.4 (1.9-3.1), compared to those with good MH. OR for cessation of mental healthcare was associated with better MH screening status: good MH: OR 1.6 (1.1-2.6), moderate MH: OR 1.6 (1.0-2.4), compared to those with poor MH. Initiation and cessation of mental healthcare appeared to be time-related to the MH screening. CONCLUSIONS: MH screening combined with feedback on both positive and negative screening results to the GP may contribute to relevant initiation and cessation of mental healthcare. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registration of the Check Your Health-trial: ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT02028195 ), 7 March 2014.

Mental health assessment in health checks of participants aged 30-49 years: A large-scale cohort study.

Mental distress is an independent risk factor for illness related impairment. Awareness of mental health (MH) allows prevention, but early detection is not routinely performed in primary care. This cohort study incorporated MH assessment in a health promoting programme. We described the level of poor MH among health check participants, explored the potential for early intervention, and the potential for reducing social inequality in MH. The study was based on 9767 randomly selected citizens aged 30-49 years invited to a health check in Denmark in 2012-14. A total of 4871 (50%) were included; 49% were men. Poor MH was defined as a mental component summary score of ≤ 35.76 in the SF-12 Health Survey. Data was obtained from national health registers and health check. Participants with poor MH (9%) were more socioeconomic disadvantaged and had poorer health than those with better MH. Two thirds of men (64%) and half of women (50%) with poor MH had not received MH care one year before the health check. Among those with (presumably) unrecognized MH problems, the proportion of participants with disadvantaged socioeconomic characteristics was high (43-55%). Four out of five of those with apparently unacknowledged poor MH had seen their GP only once or not at all during the one year before the health check. In conclusion, MH assessment in health check may help identify yet undiscovered MH problems.

[Lethal recurrent pulmonary embolism]. / Dødeligt forløbende recidiverende lungeemboli trods antikoagulansbehandling.

An otherwise healthy 68 year-old man experienced three episodes of life-threatening pulmonary embolism (PE) over a short period. The last episode had lethal outcome. After the first episode the patient was resuscitated and received embolectomy and after the second he received thrombolytic treatment. The last episode was not recognised until the autopsy. The second and the third episode occurred during anticoagulant therapy. Even in non-malignant patients recurrent PE may occur during anticoagulant therapy and implementing a prophylactic permanent filter in vena cava inferior in these patients in case of recurrent major PE could be considered.