TY - JOUR
T1 - Pathways to psychiatric care in urban north China
T2 - A general hospital based study
AU - Zhang, Weijun
AU - Li, Xuemei
AU - Lin, Yan
AU - Zhang, Xiulan
AU - Qu, Zhiyong
AU - Wang, Xiaohua
AU - Xu, Huiwen
AU - Jiao, Alvina
AU - Guo, Mengqi
AU - Zhang, Yurong
AU - Li, Yafang
AU - Tian, Donghua
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank all the respondents in this study, which was supported by the National “985” Project Research Bases in Beijing Normal University, the Key Technologies of Rural Primary Healthcare (No 2012BAJ18B00) by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and the specialized project on scientific research within healthcare circle by National Health and Family Planning Commission of China (201002011).
PY - 2013/9/10
Y1 - 2013/9/10
N2 - Background: Pathway studies highlight the help-seeking behaviors of patients with physical and mental illnesses. A number of studies in this field have been completed in various parts of the world. The purpose of this study is to explore the characteristics of the help-seeking pathways of patients with mental illness from urban north China at Mental Health Professional (MHP).Methods: The pathway diagrams, which accounted for more than five percent of patients, were documented for 441 subjects using the translated version of the World Health Organization (WHO) pathway encounter form. The patterns and durations of care-seeking were analyzed in different diagnostic groups. The χ2-test and the Mann-Whitney U test were employed, as needed.Results: Respondents visited the MHP through a variety of pathways. Approximately three-quarters of the patients took an indirect pathway (74.8% vs 25.2%, χ2 = 108.8, p < 0.0001), and on average, each patient consulted 3.4 caregivers. The vast majority of patients first visited local tertiary general hospitals (56.4% vs 4.1%, χ2 = 138.3, p < 0.0001) or local secondary general hospitals (24.8% vs 4.1%, χ2 = 40.96, p < 0.0001). However, only 9.6% of patients were diagnosed with mental disorders for the patients who first visited non-psychiatric hospitals. Of the patients who first contacted with psychiatry hospital, 55.6% received a professional diagnosis and finally reached the MHP because of the poor treatment or high-cost medical care.Conclusions: The majority of patients seek other pathways than to go to MHP directly and this may be due to stigma, and/or lack of knowledge. The study gives emphasis on the importance of improving skills and knowledge that will facilitate the recognition of psychiatric disorders in the community health centers, the general hospitals system and by private practitioners. The pathway described by this study may be helpful while preparing mental health programs in the future.
AB - Background: Pathway studies highlight the help-seeking behaviors of patients with physical and mental illnesses. A number of studies in this field have been completed in various parts of the world. The purpose of this study is to explore the characteristics of the help-seeking pathways of patients with mental illness from urban north China at Mental Health Professional (MHP).Methods: The pathway diagrams, which accounted for more than five percent of patients, were documented for 441 subjects using the translated version of the World Health Organization (WHO) pathway encounter form. The patterns and durations of care-seeking were analyzed in different diagnostic groups. The χ2-test and the Mann-Whitney U test were employed, as needed.Results: Respondents visited the MHP through a variety of pathways. Approximately three-quarters of the patients took an indirect pathway (74.8% vs 25.2%, χ2 = 108.8, p < 0.0001), and on average, each patient consulted 3.4 caregivers. The vast majority of patients first visited local tertiary general hospitals (56.4% vs 4.1%, χ2 = 138.3, p < 0.0001) or local secondary general hospitals (24.8% vs 4.1%, χ2 = 40.96, p < 0.0001). However, only 9.6% of patients were diagnosed with mental disorders for the patients who first visited non-psychiatric hospitals. Of the patients who first contacted with psychiatry hospital, 55.6% received a professional diagnosis and finally reached the MHP because of the poor treatment or high-cost medical care.Conclusions: The majority of patients seek other pathways than to go to MHP directly and this may be due to stigma, and/or lack of knowledge. The study gives emphasis on the importance of improving skills and knowledge that will facilitate the recognition of psychiatric disorders in the community health centers, the general hospitals system and by private practitioners. The pathway described by this study may be helpful while preparing mental health programs in the future.
KW - Help-seeking pathways
KW - Mental health professional
KW - Patients with mental illness
KW - Psychiatric care
KW - Urban north China
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84883621560&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84883621560&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/1752-4458-7-22
DO - 10.1186/1752-4458-7-22
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84883621560
SN - 1752-4458
VL - 7
JO - International Journal of Mental Health Systems
JF - International Journal of Mental Health Systems
IS - 1
M1 - 22
ER -