Sociodemographic Differences in Physician-Based Mental Health and Virtual Care Utilization and Uptake of Virtual Care Among Children and Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ontario, Canada: A Population-Based Study.

We sought to evaluate the relationship between social determinants of health and physician-based mental healthcare utilization and virtual care use among children and adolescents in Ontario, Canada, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This population-based repeated cross-sectional study of children and adolescents (3-17 years; Overall, pediatric physician-based mental healthcare visits were 5% lower than expected (rate ratio [RR] = 0.95, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92 to 0.98) among those living in the most deprived areas in the first year of the pandemic, compared with the least deprived with 4% higher than expected rates (RR = 1.04, 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.06). There were no differences in overall observed and expected visit rates by region of residence. Immigrants had 14% to 26% higher visit rates compared with expected from July 2020 to February 2021, whereas refugees had similarly observed and expected rates. Virtual care use was approximately 65% among refugees, compared with 70% for all strata. During the first year of the pandemic, pediatric physician-based mental healthcare utilization was higher among immigrants and lower than expected among those with lower socioeconomic status. Refugees had the lowest use of virtual care. Further work is needed to understand whether these differences reflect issues in access to care or the need to help inform ongoing pandemic recovery planning.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of Conflicts of InterestsThe authors declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: N. Saunders reported receiving personal fees from the Archives of Diseases in Childhood, grants from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Ontario Ministry of Health, grants from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and grants from The Hospital for Sick Children outside the submitted work. S. Vigod reported receiving royalties from UpToDate Inc. for authorship of materials related to depression and pregnancy unrelated to the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.