MedPage Today (1/21, Monaco) reported, “A ‘substantial increase’ in physicians in Canada sought mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic,” investigators concluded. After examining data on “nearly 35,000 practicing physicians in Ontario,” the study team found that “the overall annual number of outpatient mental health and substance use visits increased by 27% per 1,000 physicians – from 816.8 pre-pandemic to 1,037.5 during the pandemic.” In other words, “this equated to a 13% increase in the rate of mental health and substance use visits per physician during the pandemic…an increase that appeared driven by those who had no prior mental health or substance use history.” The findings were published online Jan. 21 in JAMA Network Open.
Psychiatric News (1/21) reported, “Psychiatrists had the highest rate of visits (3,441.5 visits per 1,000 physicians) and surgeons had the lowest rates of visits (370.9 visits per 1,000 physicians),” with “visits related to anxiety and adjustment reactions” having the overall “largest increases during the pandemic.
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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)