The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Registration and Care Provision of Mental Health Problems in General Practice: Registry-Based Study.
Jan VandammeSimon Gabriël BeertenJonas CrèvecoeurSteve Alfons Van den BulckBert AertgeertsNicolas DelvauxGijs Van PottelberghMieke VermandereLaura TopsThomas NeyensBert VaesPublished in: JMIR public health and surveillance (2023)
This study showed (1) a relative overall increase in the registrations of mental health problems in general practice and (2) an increase in care provision for patients with mental health problems in the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Low SES remained a determining factor for more care provision, but care provision dropped significantly in people with mental health problems with a low SES. Our findings suggest that the pandemic in Belgium was also largely a "syndemic," affecting different layers of the population disproportionately.