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  5. How Do Mental Health Treatment Delays Impact Long Term Mortality?

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

How Do Mental Health Treatment Delays Impact Long Term Mortality?

  • Sydney Costantini
American Economic Review (Forthcoming)

Abstract

With a growing mental health crisis and a shortage of behavioral health specialists, those seeking mental health treatment often face long wait times to obtain care. I study how clinic congestion affects mortality for veterans experiencing mental health emergencies. I find that longer waiting times make it more likely that patients miss their follow up mental health visit, consequently increasing the probability that they permanently disengage from care. A one standard deviation increase in wait time between the ED visit and follow up appointment date (11.7 days) increases two-year mortality by about 1.5%.

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