Pathways to professional mental care in the Swiss young adult community: a case-control study.

N Osman, C Michel, B G Schimmelmann, L Schilbach, E Meisenzahl, F Schultze-Lutter

Open access · hybridAbstract read

In one paragraph

Article in European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact, top 97% of its field

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed, 0 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.

N OsmanClinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy/LVR-Clinic Duesseldorf, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Duesseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany. naweed.osman@lvr.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9761-0099

C MichelUniversity Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

B G SchimmelmannUniversity Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

L SchilbachClinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy/LVR-Clinic Duesseldorf, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Duesseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.

E MeisenzahlClinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy/LVR-Clinic Duesseldorf, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Duesseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.

F Schultze-LutterClinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy/LVR-Clinic Duesseldorf, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Duesseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.

Düsseldorf University Hospital · DEUniversity of Bern · CH

Funding

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung 135381Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung 155951

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Treatment success for mental health (MH) problems depends, among others, on the timeliness of help-seeking. Therefore, we studied the effect of symptoms and reasons for help-seeking on the point-of-contact and the most intensive professional treatment in a community sample. Participants were recruited as part of the 'Bern Epidemiological At-Risk' (BEAR) study on 16-40-year-old community persons of the Swiss canton Bern. Of the 2,683 participants, 615 (22.9%) reported at least one instance of help-seeking for MH problems and were selected for the presented analyses. Help-seeking behavior was assessed by a modified version of the 'WHO pathway-to-care questionnaire', from which the outcome 'most intensive MH professional contact' was generated. The effect of symptoms and reasons for help-seeking were analyzed in separate models using path analyses. Most help-seeking persons sought MH professional help (n = 405; 65.9%) with a high number of medical pre-contacts (n = 233; 37.9%). The 'most intensive MH professional contact' was provided after an average of 1.47 contacts. Both models showed negative associations between non-MH professional pre-contacts and the most intensive, likely most adequate MH treatment. In the symptom model, 'substance misuse' and 'central-vegetative problems' increased the general likelihood of MH professional contact. Our findings highlight the importance of the first point-of-contact in pathways to adequate MH care and, when seeking help from non-MH professional, of quick referrals to MH professionals. Awareness campaigns or training of health professionals, such as general practitioners, may support timely contact with MH professionals to improve diagnosis, prognosis, and outcome.

Indexed as

Mental DisordersMental Health ServicesPatient Acceptance of Health CareAdolescentAdultCase-Control StudiesFemaleHumansMaleSwitzerlandYoung AdultActive help-seeking behaviorCommunity studyMental health problems/disordersPoint-of-contact

Identifiers

PMID38429553

DOI10.1007/s00406-024-01757-4

PMCPMC12270957

OpenAlexW4392361004

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.