TY - JOUR
AU - B. Robles
AU - H. Kwak
AU - T. Kuo
A1 - 
AB - BACKGROUND: Behavioral health services (BHS) can help improve and treat mental and emotional health problems. Yet, attitudinal and/or structural barriers often prevent individuals from accessing and benefiting from these services. Positive provider-patient interactions in healthcare, encompassing patient comfort with a primary care provider (PCP), which is often enhanced by shared decision-making, may mitigate the stigma associated with seeing a mental health professional; this may improve BHS utilization among patients who need these services. However, few studies have examined how patient comfort with a PCP, often through shared decision-making, may influence patients' BHS utilization in the real world. This study sought to address this gap in practice. METHOD: Multivariable regression analyses, using weighted data from an internet panel survey of Los Angeles County adults (n = 749), were carried out to examine the associations between patient comfort with a PCP and three measures of BHS utilization. Subsequent analyses were conducted to explore the extent to which shared decision-making moderated these associations. RESULTS: Participants who reported an intermediate or high comfort level with a provider had higher odds of reporting that they were likely to see (aOR = 2.10 and 3.84, respectively) and get advice (aOR = 2.75 and 4.76, respectively) from a mental health professional compared to participants who reported a low comfort level. Although shared decision-making influenced participants' likelihood of seeing and getting advice from a mental health professional, it was not a statistically significant moderator in these associations. CONCLUSION: Building stronger relationships with patients may improve BHS utilization, a provider practice that is likely underutilized.
AD - Research Group On Statistics, Econometrics, and Health (GRECS), University of Girona, Carrer de la Universitat de Girona 10, Campus de Montilivi, Girona, 17003, Spain. brenda.robles@udg.edu.; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain. brenda.robles@udg.edu.; Department of Internal Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), 911 Broxton Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA.; Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Box 951722, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.; Department of Family Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 10880 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1800, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA.; Population Health Program, UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute, 10833 Le Conte Ave., BE-144 CHS, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
AN - 38388741
BT - Int J Behav Med
C5 - Education & Workforce
CP - 3
DA - Jun
DO - 10.1007/s12529-024-10259-5
DP - NLM
ET - 20240222
IS - 3
JF - Int J Behav Med
LA - eng
N2 - BACKGROUND: Behavioral health services (BHS) can help improve and treat mental and emotional health problems. Yet, attitudinal and/or structural barriers often prevent individuals from accessing and benefiting from these services. Positive provider-patient interactions in healthcare, encompassing patient comfort with a primary care provider (PCP), which is often enhanced by shared decision-making, may mitigate the stigma associated with seeing a mental health professional; this may improve BHS utilization among patients who need these services. However, few studies have examined how patient comfort with a PCP, often through shared decision-making, may influence patients' BHS utilization in the real world. This study sought to address this gap in practice. METHOD: Multivariable regression analyses, using weighted data from an internet panel survey of Los Angeles County adults (n = 749), were carried out to examine the associations between patient comfort with a PCP and three measures of BHS utilization. Subsequent analyses were conducted to explore the extent to which shared decision-making moderated these associations. RESULTS: Participants who reported an intermediate or high comfort level with a provider had higher odds of reporting that they were likely to see (aOR = 2.10 and 3.84, respectively) and get advice (aOR = 2.75 and 4.76, respectively) from a mental health professional compared to participants who reported a low comfort level. Although shared decision-making influenced participants' likelihood of seeing and getting advice from a mental health professional, it was not a statistically significant moderator in these associations. CONCLUSION: Building stronger relationships with patients may improve BHS utilization, a provider practice that is likely underutilized.
PY - 2025
SN - 1070-5503
SP - 463
EP - 475+
ST - Associations Between Patient Comfort with a Primary Care Provider and Three Measures of Behavioral Health Services Utilization
T1 - Associations Between Patient Comfort with a Primary Care Provider and Three Measures of Behavioral Health Services Utilization
T2 - Int J Behav Med
TI - Associations Between Patient Comfort with a Primary Care Provider and Three Measures of Behavioral Health Services Utilization
U1 - Education & Workforce
U3 - 10.1007/s12529-024-10259-5
VL - 32
VO - 1070-5503
Y1 - 2025
ER -