Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Apr 3, 2024
Date Accepted: Jun 5, 2024
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Characterizing Mental Health Status and Service Utilization in Chinese Americans with Type 2 Diabetes in New York City
ABSTRACT
Background:
Emerging evidence indicates that individuals with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) are more prone to mental health issues, but there is a significant lack of data concerning the mental health burden in Chinese Americans with T2D.
Objective:
To explore the comorbid mental health status, health-seeking behaviors, and mental service utilization among Chinese Americans with type 2 diabetes (T2D).
Methods:
A cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted among 74 Chinese Americans with T2D in New York City. We used standardized questionnaires to assess mental health status and to gather data on mental health-seeking behaviors and service utilization. Descriptive statistics were applied for data analysis.
Results:
A total of 74 Chinese Americans with T2D completed the survey. Most participants (age 56.410.1) were female (56.8%), foreign born (98.7%), and had limited English proficiency (96.0%). Despite nearly half of the participants (34/74, 45.9%) reporting at least one mental health concern (elevated stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety), only 5.9% (2/34) were currently using mental health services. Common reasons for not seeking care included no perceived need, lack of information about Chinese-speaking providers, cost, and time constraints. The cultural and language competence of the provider was ranked as the top factor related to seeking mental health care.
Conclusions:
Chinese Americans with T2D experienced relatively high comorbid mental health concerns, yet had low service utilization. Clinicians may consider team-based care to incorporate mental health screening and identify strategies to provide culturally and linguistically concordant mental health services to engage Chinese Americans with T2D.
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