Relationships between depression, pain and sleep quality with doctor visits among community-based adults in...

Previous studies have suggested that the high rates of unmet need for mental health services in China among depressed people are related to a cultural tendency to deny mental and emotional symptoms and instead express them somatically. Such somatization may lead a sufferer to a consultation with a healthcare professional but rarely leads to appropriate mental health treatment. This study aimed to elucidate the relationships of depression, sleep quality and perceived physical pain with doctor visits among community-based adults in China, and thus to help guide the development of clinical practices aimed at reducing unmet mental health service need.

Cross-sectional study.

In total, 7602 north-west Chinese adults aged >40 years were included in the survey. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Chinese Edition was used to assess depressive symptoms. Subjective sleep quality was evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. The Brief Pain Inventory-Chinese Version was used to measure pain severity and pain interference.

In this study, 16.2% of people reported physical pain, and 20.0% of those who reported poor sleep quality had seen a doctor in the past month. Only 14.4% of those with depression had seen a doctor. The results of the logistic regression analyses indicated that subjects with pain were significantly more likely to have seen a doctor than subjects without pain (odds ratio [OR] 1.61; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.32-1.97). Poor sleep quality was significantly associated with doctor visits (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.40-2.21). Depression was not associated with doctor visits after adjusting for pain, sleep quality and potentially confounding factors.

When attempting to screen for depression and risk of depression in middle-aged and older adults in China, mental health professionals should focus on perceived physical pain and poor sleep quality.