Unmet Need for Mental Healthcare in a Population Sample in Sweden: A Cross-Sectional Study of Inequalities Based on Gender, Education, and Country of Birth

Abstract

This cross-sectional study investigated if gender, education, and country of birth were associated with perceived need and unmet need for mental healthcare (i.e., refraining from seeking care, or perceiving care as insufficient when seeking it). Questionnaire and register data from 2008 were collected for 3987 individuals, aged 19–64 years, in a random population-based sample from western Sweden. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were used. Men were less likely to perceive a need for care than were women, even after adjusting for mental well-being. Men were also less likely to seek care and perceiving care as sufficient. People with secondary education were less likely to seek care than those with university education. There were no statistically significant differences based on country of birth. The observed gender and education-based inequalities increases our understanding of where interventions can be implemented. These inequalities in unmet need for mental healthcare should be targeted by the healthcare system.