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Health service utilization in patients with major depressive disorder experiencing significant somatic symptoms in Korea

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Published/Copyright: November 1, 2010
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International Journal on Disability and Human Development
From the journal Volume 9 Issue 1

Abstract

Background: This study investigated the patterns of health service utilization among patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and significant somatic symptoms, who visited psychiatrists in a tertiary care setting.

Methods: A total of 211 patients (51 males and 160 females) were recruited from a convenience sampling and assessed for severity of depressive and somatic symptoms. A structured questionnaire was employed to assess their pattern of healthcare service utilization, specifically, type of treatment first sought, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and time from onset of depressive symptoms to first treatment.

Results: MDD patients with significant somatic symptoms tended to visit a non-psychiatrist physician first. Those with milder somatic symptoms who first visited non-physician practitioners spent a significantly greater amount on out-of-pocket medical expenses than did those who first visited physicians to get treatment. The patients with chief complaints of psychological and emotional symptoms were more likely to visit a psychiatrist first; however, a longer time interval lapsed before these patients received treatment.

Conclusions: Patients with MDD experiencing significant symptoms are unlikely to access appropriate services in a timely manner. The results have implications for improving health care delivery for this population.

Keywords: health service utilization; Korea; major depressive disorder; psychiatry; somatic symptom
Corresponding author: Bum-Hee Yu, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Ilwon-Dong 50, Gangnam-Gu, Seoul 135-710, Korea Phone: +82-2-3410-3583, Fax: +82-2-3410-6957,
Received: 2009-10-15
Accepted: 2009-12-5
Published Online: 2010-11-01
Published in Print: 2010-11-01

©2010 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York

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https://doi.org/10.1515/IJDHD.2010.004
Keywords for this article
health service utilization; Korea; major depressive disorder; psychiatry; somatic symptom

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Editorial
  2. New directions for disability and human development
  3. Review
  4. Psychiatric manifestations of latent toxoplasmosis. Potential mediation by indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase
  5. Original Articles
  6. Associations between parent and child pain and functioning in a pediatric chronic pain sample: a mixed methods approach
  7. Health service utilization in patients with major depressive disorder experiencing significant somatic symptoms in Korea
  8. Movement skills in persons with Down syndrome decrease with aging
  9. Development of a community-specific health promotion plan to improve children's health in rural Guatemala
  10. No impact of gonadal steroid levels on the association between C-reactive protein and prepartum depression scores
  11. Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure estimation by Doppler echocardiography and cardiac catheterization: a study at a tertiary level hospital in Bangladesh
  12. National survey 2008 on medical services for persons with intellectual disability in residential care in Israel
  13. A longitudinal analysis of poverty among families supporting a child with a disability
  14. Case Reports
  15. Benign myelomalacia mimicking malignant spinal cord compression in a patient with metastatic non-small cell lung carcinoma: a case report
  16. A patient with the Fregoli syndrome: a case report and discussion of the relevant literature
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