Half of patients with depression in Canada's BC province inadequately treated: report
Xinhua, July 15, 2016 Adjust font size:
About half of people in Canada's province of British Columbia with depression are not receiving even the most basic level of care, showed a research report released on Thursday, highlighting the challenges of accessing mental health services across Canada.
The study, published by the University of British Columbia, estimated that 5 percent of population in Canada experience depression each year.
"In a country with a publicly-funded health care system, many people have untreated depression or do not get adequate care," said Joseph Puyat, a PhD candidate in UBC's school of population and public health and one of the report author.
"Our findings highlight the need to keep the conversation going about how to close the gap in treating mental illness," he said.
Puyat and his colleagues reviewed health data from almost 110,000 British Columbians diagnosed with depression by physicians between 2010 and 2011, and found only 13 percent of people received at least four psychotherapy or counseling sessions and 47 percent received antidepressant medication for at least 12 weeks. Overall, about 53 percent received the minimum threshold of treatment.
The researchers believe that their findings underestimate the full extent of the problem since many people do not seek or receive a diagnosis for their depression because of issues around stigma or access to a physician.
Puyat compared these findings to results from the Statistics Canada's 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey and found that the B.C. data is comparable.
In the national survey, four out of 10 Canadians who struggle with depression indicate they are not accessing any services to treat depression.
He suggested that provinces need to take a look at the services covered for mental health and how patients access care.
Canadians only receive public health coverage for counseling from medical doctors yet many family physicians don't have the time or training to provide counseling services. Endit