Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2021
Advisor
Amber Todd
Abstract
Objective: Analyze how the availability of mental health providers has changed in Ohio from 2016 to 2020 with relation to changes in mental health outcomes reported. Compare to other regions of the United States (Louisiana, California, New York) in terms of access to healthcare, unemployment status, and food quality index. Lastly, to identify which socioeconomic and health factors are most predictive of poor mental health days.
Methods: Participant data from Ohio (OH), Louisiana (LA), California (CA), and New York (NY) was acquired from countyhealthrankings.org annual survey results that were published from 2016 through 2020. SPSS was utilized for statistical analysis in the form of Student T-tests, linear regression, and ANOVA.
Results: From 2016 to 2020, there was a statistically significant increase in the number of poor mental health days and the percent reporting frequent poor mental health days in OH (4.0 days in 2016 compared to 4.39 days in 2020). In terms of the percentage of the population reporting frequent poor mental health days, OH had a lower percentage compared to LA but a higher percentage compared to CA and NY. The ratio of population-to-provider was found to also have decreased from 2016 to 2020, indicating an increase in the number of providers available per given population; however, OH was found to have a higher population-to-provider ratio when compared to CA and NY. OH has a statistically lower unemployment rate and a higher food environment index than LA, but there was no significant difference when compared to CA and NY. Unemployment was found to be directly correlated with increased number of poor mental health days and increased percentage of population with frequent poor mental health days, while food environment index was inversely related to either one. These two factors were confirmed by linear regression to be predictive of both increased mental health days and increased per4centage of frequent poor mental health days.
Repository Citation
Almazan, E. P. (2021). Access to Care, Food Quality Index, and Employment as Predictors of Poor Mental Health Days in Ohio, Louisiana, California, and New York. Wright State University. Dayton, Ohio.
