Young adults, particularly young women, account for an increasingly large share of Dutch mental healthcare expenditure over the period between 2015 and 2021

L Dijkstra*, S Gülöksüz, A Batalla, J van Os

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

AIMS: There is increasing concern over the mental distress of youth in recent years, which may impact mental healthcare utilisation. Here we aim to examine temporal patterns of mental healthcare expenditures in the Netherlands by age and sex in the period between 2015 and 2021. METHODS: Comprehensive data from health insurers in the Netherlands at the 3-number postal code level were used for cluster weighted linear regressions to examine temporal patterns of mental healthcare expenditure by age group (18-34 vs 35-65). The same was done for medical specialist and general practitioner costs. Additionally, we examined interactions with gender, by adding the interaction between age, year and sex to the model. RESULTS: Mental healthcare costs for younger adults (18-34) were higher than those for older adults (35-65) at all time points (β = 0.22, 95%-CI = 0.19; 0.25). Furthermore there was an increase in the strength of the association between younger age and mental healthcare costs from β = 0.22 (95%-CI = 0.19; 0.25) in 2015 to β = 0.37 (95%-CI = 0.35; 0.40) in 2021 (p < 0.0001) and this was most evident in women (p < 0.0001). Younger age was associated with lower general practitioner costs at all time points, but this association weakened over time. Younger age was also associated with lower medical specialist costs, which did not weaken over time. CONCLUSIONS: Young adults, particularly young women, account for an increasing share of mental healthcare expenditure in the Netherlands. This suggests that mental distress in young people is increasingly met by a response from the medical system. To mitigate this trend a public mental health approach is needed.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere48
Number of pages9
JournalEpidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences
Volume33
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Oct 2024

Keywords

  • Epidemiology
  • Gender Differences
  • Health Economics
  • Mental Health
  • Social and Political Issues
  • Humans
  • Netherlands
  • Adult
  • Female
  • Health Expenditures/statistics & numerical data
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Young Adult
  • Mental Health Services/statistics & numerical data economics
  • Adolescent
  • Aged
  • Age Factors
  • Sex Factors
  • Mental Disorders/therapy epidemiology economics psychology

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