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. 2024 Jul 2:8:e59121.
doi: 10.2196/59121.

Characterizing Mental Health Status and Service Utilization in Chinese Americans With Type 2 Diabetes in New York City: Cross-Sectional Study

Yun Shi #  1   2 , Bei Wu  3 , Nadia Islam  1 , Mary Ann Sevick  1   4 , Amanda J Shallcross  5 , Natalie Levy  1 , Kosuke Tamura  6 , Han Bao  7 , Ricki Lieu  1   2   8 , Xinyi Xu  1   2 , Yulin Jiang  1   2 , Lu Hu  1   2
Affiliations

Characterizing Mental Health Status and Service Utilization in Chinese Americans With Type 2 Diabetes in New York City: Cross-Sectional Study

Yun Shi et al. JMIR Form Res. .

Abstract

Background: Emerging evidence indicates that individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are more prone to mental health issues than the general population; however, there is a significant lack of data concerning the mental health burden in Chinese Americans with T2D.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the comorbid mental health status, health-seeking behaviors, and mental service utilization among Chinese Americans with T2D.

Methods: A cross-sectional telephone survey was performed among 74 Chinese Americans with T2D in New York City. We used standardized questionnaires to assess mental health status and to gather data on mental health-seeking behaviors and service utilization. Descriptive statistics were applied for data analysis.

Results: A total of 74 Chinese Americans with T2D completed the survey. Most participants (mean age 56, SD 10 years) identified as female (42/74, 57%), were born outside the United States (73/74, 99%), and had limited English proficiency (71/74, 96%). Despite nearly half of the participants (34/74, 46%) reporting at least one mental health concern (elevated stress, depressive symptoms, and/or anxiety), only 3% (2/74) were currently using mental health services. Common reasons for not seeking care included no perceived need, lack of information about Chinese-speaking providers, cost, and time constraints. The cultural and language competence of the provider was ranked as the top factor related to seeking mental health care.

Conclusions: Chinese Americans with T2D experience relatively high comorbid mental health concerns yet have low service utilization. Clinicians may consider team-based care to incorporate mental health screening and identify strategies to provide culturally and linguistically concordant mental health services to engage Chinese Americans with T2D.

Keywords: Chinese American; United States; anxiety; cross-sectional; depression; depressive symptoms; diabetes; diabetes distress; mental health; mental health burden; mental health care; mental health screening; psychological distress; service utilization; stress; telephone survey; type 2 diabetes.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

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