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Use of Health Services for Psychological Distress Symptoms among Community-Dwelling Older Adults*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2009

Michel Préville ,
Helen-Maria Vasiliadis ,
Richard Boyer ,
Maria Goldfarb ,
Karine Demers ,
Joëlle Brassard  and
Sarah-Gabrielle Béland
Michel Préville*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke Research Center, Charles LeMoyne Hospital
Helen-Maria Vasiliadis
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke Research Center, Charles LeMoyne Hospital
Richard Boyer
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal Fernand-Seguin Research Center, Canada
Maria Goldfarb
Affiliation:
Ph.D. candidate, Psychology Department, Université du Québec à Montréal
Karine Demers
Affiliation:
Ph.D. candidate, Clinical Sciences Program, Université de Sherbrooke
Joëlle Brassard
Affiliation:
Research Center, Charles LeMoyne Hospital
Sarah-Gabrielle Béland
Affiliation:
Ph.D. candidate, Pharmacy Program, Université de Montréal
*
†Address correspondence to Dr. Michel Préville Research Center Hôpital Charles LeMoyne 3120, boul. Taschereau Greenfield Park (Québec) J4V 2H1 (michel.preville@usherbrooke.ca)
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Abstract

To document the use of health services for psychological distress symptoms, we collected data from a cross-section of adults aged 65 years and over. Nearly 13 per cent met DSM-IV criteria for mood or anxiety disorders. In addition, 42.4 per cent of those having at least one DSM-IV diagnosis reported having used health services. Results show a direct association between the presence of a probable DSM-IV diagnosis and health service use. However, our results show no significant association between gender and health service use, and do not support the hypothesis that minimal social support increases the probability of older adults using health services for psychological distress. The analysis suggests unmarried elders are more likely than married elders to use health services. Furthermore, this study shows that older adults having a high level of daily hassles reported using health services for psychological distress than those reporting a low stress level. We conclude that a large proportion of elderly mental health needs in Quebec are potentially not being met.

Résumé

Cette étude visait à documenter l’utilisation des services de santé pour des symptômes de détresse psychologique dans la population âgée du Québec vivant à domicile. Les données utilisées dans cette étude proviennent d’une étude transversale réalisée en 2005-2006 auprès d’un échantillon représentatif (n = 2784) de la population de 65 ans et plus. Nos résultats ont montré que près de 13 pour cent des répondants rapportaient des symptômes rencontrant les critères diagnostiques de troubles dépressif ou d’anxiété selon le DSM-IV. De plus, 42.4 pour cent de ceux ayant au moins un diagnostic DSM-IV, ont rapporté avoir utilisé les services de santé pour leurs symptômes. La plupart des répondants (79%) ont visité un médecin généraliste. Peu (5%) ont visité un psychologue, un travailleur social (2.4%), ou une infirmière (0.7%). Contrairement aux conclusions d’autres études, nos résultats n’ont montré aucune association significative entre le sexe et l’utilisation des services de santé. En outre, nos résultats ne supportent pas l’hypothèse selon laquelle un faible soutien social augmente la probabilité d’utiliser les services de santé pour des symptômes de détresse psychologique chez les personnes âgées. Cependant, nos résultats suggèrent que les personnes non mariées ont une probabilité plus élevée d’utiliser les services de santé que les personnes âgées mariées. Cette étude a montré également que les personnes âgées présentant un niveau de stress élevé ont rapporté avoir utilisé les services de santé pour leurs symptômes de détresse psychologique dans une plus grande proportion. Nos résultats nous amènent à conclure qu’une grande proportion des besoins de santé mentale des personnes âgées au Québec est potentiellement non comblée. Des recherches longitudinales semblent nécessaires pour éviter une mauvaise interprétation de ces résultats. Les futures études longitudinales permettront de mieux documenter les facteurs reliés à la sous utilisation des services de santé par les personnes présentant un trouble psychiatrique.

Keywords

détresse psychologiquebesoin de santéutilisation des services de santévieillissmentpsychological distressneed for healthhealth services utilizationaging
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , March 2009 , pp. 51 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2009

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Footnotes

*

This study was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (200403MOP) and the Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec (ref: 9854). The authors thank the members of the Scientific Committee of the ESA Study, who provided significant scientific advice, and Bernadette Wilson, who provided editing comments.

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