Diagnosed Depression and Utilization of Health Care Services and Preventive Measures in the General Adult Population in Germany - Results from a Nationwide Cross-Sectional Telephone Survey

Abstract

To examine the association of diagnosed depression with the utilization of health care services and preventive measures among men and women in the general population in Germany. Cross-sectional analysis of data from a representative telephone survey (men N = 18,675, women N = 24,518, 18 years and older). Self-reported health professional-diagnosed depression (past 12 months) and the use of a range of health care and preventive services were assessed. Diagnosed depression was associated with increased health care service utilization in both sexes. Diagnosed depression was associated with higher utilization of some preventive services, such as general health check-ups (odds ratio [OR] 1.2), cancer screening (OR 1.2) and flu vaccination (OR 1.3) among women and cancer screening (OR 1.4) among men. Health professional-diagnosed depression is associated with increased health service utilization independent of somatic comorbidity and socio-demographic confounders. There was no indication for specific under-treatment with preventive measures among people with depression diagnosis.