Prevalence of Subjective Unmet Mental Healthcare Needs, Barriers, and Socioeconomic Inequality among Adult Individuals with Physical, Visual, Hearing, and Speech Disabilities in West of Iran

Abstract

People with disabilities are susceptible to mental disorders, so it is very important to check and monitor their access to mental health services. There has been no study in this regard in Iran. This study aimed to measure the prevalence and socioeconomic inequality of subjective unmet needs for mental healthcare services (SUNMH) among individuals with disabilities and the various reasons behind them in the west of Iran. This descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted on 613 people with disabilities over 18 years of age in Sanandaj city in 2023. Simple random sampling was used, and a questionnaire was applied to collect the data. The multivariate logistic regression was used to determine significant predictors of SUNMH. The concentration index (C) and concentration curve (CC) were calculated to measure inequality in the prevalence of SUNMH. Data were analyzed using STATA software version 16.0 (Stata Corp, College Station, TX, USA. About 47% of people had experienced SUNMH. Lack of financial ability with 45%, insufficient payment of basic health insurance for mental health services with 27%, and noncoverage of mental health services by basic health insurance with 25% were the three main reasons for SUNMH. According to the logistic regression model, unemployment (OR: 2.70, 95% CI: 1.31–5.53), not having supplementary insurance (OR: 2.03, 95% CI: 1.11–4.74), having another member with a disability in the household (OR: 3.33, 95% CI: 1.34–8.29), and poor economic status increased the odds of experiencing unmet need for mental health services by about 3, 2, 3, and 21 times, respectively (OR: 21.11, 95% CI: 13.72–48.11). The concentration index was −0.496, indicating a greater concentration of SUNMH in people with low socioeconomic status. Access to health services is not suitable among people with disabilities and a significant percentage of them suffer from SUNMH. Policy recommendations are proposed to address the primary obstacle of financial barriers to SUNMH and increase access to the necessary services, which include increasing the allocation of financial resources to specialized mental health services for individuals with disabilities and expanding disability-specific health insurance coverage with government financial support.