The Prevalence of Mental Health Service Use in Australian Workers with Accepted Workers' Compensation Claims for Low Back Pain: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
Shannon E Gray, M Di Donato, L R Sheehan and 2 others
PMID 36988740WHAT IT FOUND
Only 9.7% of workers with compensated low back pain accessed mental health services.
Use rose sharply with claim duration, reaching 39.4% for claims over 76 weeks. Access varied by jurisdiction, with Western Australia lowest at 6.7% and Victoria highest at 12.0%.
Key findings
01Overall, 2,800 of 28,870 workers with low back pain claims accessed at least one compensated mental health service, a prevalence of 9.7%.
02Mental health service use increased with time loss duration: 0.8% for claims lasting 2 to 13 weeks, rising to 39.4% for claims lasting 76 weeks or more.
03Prevalence varied by jurisdiction, from 6.7% in Western Australia to 12.0% in Victoria.
STILL TO COME
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What it does not show
The study only captured mental health services funded by workers' compensation. It missed services funded by Medicare, private insurance, or out-of-pocket, meaning the true prevalence of mental health service use is likely higher. The data did not include clinical information, so it is unclear whether the mental health services were for conditions directly related to the low back pain or for unrelated secondary issues. General practitioner mental health plans were not captured unless a specialist referral occurred. Occupation and industry data were incomplete and could not be used as covariates, potentially missing key determinants of service access.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Australian Research Council. No other conflicts of interest were reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the 9.7% prevalence as a true measure of all mental health service use. This figure only counts services paid for by the workers' compensation scheme. Many workers likely accessed care through Medicare or private funding, which this study did not capture.