Biomaterial Database

Racial/ethnic disparity trends in children's mental health care access and expenditures from 2002 to 2007. 2013

Benjamin Lê Cook, and Colleen L Barry, and Susan H Busch

Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Somerville, MA 02143, USA. bcook@charesearch.org

OBJECTIVE To examine trends in disparities in children's mental health care. METHODS 2002-2007 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. METHODS We used the Institute of Medicine (IOM) definition of health care disparities and estimated two-part expenditure models to examine disparity trends in any mental health care use, any outpatient care, and psychotropic drug use, as well as expenditures in these three categories, conditional on use. We used 2-year longitudinal panel data to determine disparities in care initiation among children with unmet need. RESULTS Assessing trends over time between 2002 and 2007, we identified that disparities persist for blacks and Latinos in receipt of any mental health care, any outpatient care, and any psychotropic drug use. Among those with positive mental health care expenditures, Latino-white disparities in overall mental health care expenditures increased over time. Among children with unmet need, significant disparities in initiation of an episode of mental health care were found, with whites approximately twice as likely as blacks and Latinos to initiate care. CONCLUSIONS Disparities in children's mental health care use are persistent and driven by disparities in initiation, suggesting policies to improve detection or increase initial access to care may be critical to reducing disparities.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008137	Longitudinal Studies	Studies in which variables relating to an individual or group of individuals are assessed over a period of time.	Bogalusa Heart Study,California Teachers Study,Framingham Heart Study,Jackson Heart Study,Longitudinal Survey,Tuskegee Syphilis Study,Bogalusa Heart Studies,California Teachers Studies,Framingham Heart Studies,Heart Studies, Bogalusa,Heart Studies, Framingham,Heart Studies, Jackson,Heart Study, Bogalusa,Heart Study, Framingham,Heart Study, Jackson,Jackson Heart Studies,Longitudinal Study,Longitudinal Surveys,Studies, Bogalusa Heart,Studies, California Teachers,Studies, Jackson Heart,Studies, Longitudinal,Study, Bogalusa Heart,Study, California Teachers,Study, Longitudinal,Survey, Longitudinal,Surveys, Longitudinal,Syphilis Studies, Tuskegee,Syphilis Study, Tuskegee,Teachers Studies, California,Teachers Study, California,Tuskegee Syphilis Studies
D008297	Male		Males
D008605	Mental Health Services	Organized services to provide mental health care.	Mental Hygiene Services,Health Services, Mental,Services, Mental Health,Services, Mental Hygiene,Health Service, Mental,Hygiene Service, Mental,Hygiene Services, Mental,Mental Health Service,Mental Hygiene Service,Service, Mental Health,Service, Mental Hygiene
D011619	Psychotropic Drugs	A loosely defined grouping of drugs that have effects on psychological function. Here the psychotropic agents include the antidepressive agents, hallucinogens, and tranquilizing agents (including the antipsychotics and anti-anxiety agents).	Psychoactive Agent,Psychoactive Agents,Psychoactive Drug,Psychopharmaceutical,Psychopharmaceuticals,Psychotropic Drug,Psychoactive Drugs,Agent, Psychoactive,Agents, Psychoactive,Drug, Psychoactive,Drug, Psychotropic,Drugs, Psychoactive,Drugs, Psychotropic
D001741	Black or African American	A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/1997/10/30/97-28653/revisions-to-the-standards-for-the classification-of-federal-data-on-race-and-ethnicity). In the United States it is used for classification of federal government data on race and ethnicity. Race and ethnicity terms are self-identified social construct and may include terms outdated and offensive in MeSH to assist users who are interested in retrieving comprehensive search results for studies such as in longitudinal studies.	African American,African Americans,African-American,Afro-American,Afro-Americans,Black Americans,Blacks,Negroes,African-Americans,Negro,Afro American,Afro Americans,American, African,American, Black,Black American
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D005006	Ethnicity	A group of people with a common cultural heritage that sets them apart from others in a variety of social relationships.	Ethnic Groups,Nationality,Ethnic Group,Nationalities
D005260	Female		Females
D006297	Health Services Accessibility	The degree to which individuals are inhibited or facilitated in their ability to gain entry to and to receive care and services from the health care system. Factors influencing this ability include geographic, architectural, transportational, and financial considerations, among others.	Access To Care, Health,Access to Care,Access to Contraception,Access to Health Care,Access to Health Services,Access to Medications,Access to Medicines,Access to Therapy,Access to Treatment,Accessibility of Health Services,Availability of Health Services,Contraception Access,Contraceptive Access,Medication Access,Accessibility, Health Services,Contraceptive Availability,Health Services Geographic Accessibility,Program Accessibility,Access to Cares,Access to Contraceptions,Access to Medication,Access to Medicine,Access to Therapies,Access to Treatments,Access, Contraception,Access, Contraceptive,Access, Medication,Accessibilities, Health Services,Accessibility, Program,Availability, Contraceptive,Care, Access to,Cares, Access to,Contraception, Access to,Contraceptive Accesses,Health Services Availability,Medication Accesses,Medication, Access to,Medicine, Access to,Medicines, Access to,Therapy, Access to,Treatment, Access to