Depression and satisfaction with health coverage and medical care in the 1998 NRC Healthcare Market Guide® survey

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships among ratings for depression and health-plan and medical-care satisfaction using data from the 1998 National Research Corporation Healthcare Market Guide® (HCMG) survey (N=120,855). Respondents in families in which one or more members had depression (self-report) gave lower satisfaction ratings than those in families in which no member had depression on four global and four composite satisfaction measures. Although satisfaction ratings, generally, were high and depression effects were small, the authors nevertheless recommend efforts to improve access and quality of mental health care.