Estimating the Effects of Immigration Status on Mental Health Care Utilizations in the United States

Immigration status is a likely deterrent of mental health care utilization in the United States. Using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and National Health Interview survey from 2002 to 2006, multivariable logistic regressions were used to estimate the effects of immigration status on mental health care utilization among patients with depression or anxiety disorders. Multivariate regressions showed that immigrants were significantly less likely to take any prescription drugs, but not significantly less likely to have any physician visits compared to US-born citizens. Results also showed that improving immigrants’ health care access and health insurance coverage could potentially reduce disparities between US-born citizens and immigrants by 14–29% and 9–28% respectively. Policy makers should focus on expanding the availability of regular sources of health care and immigrant health coverage to reduce disparities on mental health care utilization. Targeted interventions should also focus on addressing immigrants’ language barriers, and providing culturally appropriate services

Racial and ethnic disparities in depression treatment

Over 20 years of research have documented racial and ethnic disparities in depression treatment. To date, however, this research has not led to substantive improvements. In this article, the authors argue for a broader perspective on disparities that encompass individual-level help-seeking processes in addition to the more traditional structural-level analyses. Cultural and contextual factors influence the entire range of help-seeking behaviors, from initial expressions and conceptualizations of distress, to perspectives on depression and depression treatment, to experiences with depression treatment. Understanding these influences, and their connections to the persistent disparities affecting racial and ethnic minorities, offers clinicians and researchers opportunities for targeted interventions that have potential to improve quality healthcare for all