Effect of Rurality on Type of Clinicians Delivering Psychotherapy and Prescribing Antidepressants to Veterans

Mental health care is delivered by teams that include social workers, psychologists, nonphysician prescribing clinicians (NPPCs), and physicians. The objective of this study was to determine whether patient rurality has an effect on the types of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) clinicians delivering psychotherapy and prescribing antidepressants to veterans.

Patients (N=3,537,595) receiving VA mental health services between 2013 and 2022 were stratified by rural, micropolitan, and metropolitan residence. A generalized estimating equation with a negative binomial distribution was used to estimate rates of psychotherapy delivered by social workers or psychologists and antidepressant prescribing rates by NPPCs or physicians. Rate ratios (RRs) comparing rural with metropolitan patients were calculated for each fiscal year.

Total psychotherapy visit rates were similar for rural, micropolitan, and metropolitan veterans, but women received psychotherapy from psychologists at higher rates than men and combat veterans received psychotherapy from psychologists at higher rates than noncombat veterans. Rural patients received psychotherapy from social workers more often (RR=1.24-1.30) and from psychologists less often (RR=0.80-0.88) than metropolitan patients. Rural patients were given prescriptions for antidepressants by NPPCs more often (RR=1.28-1.36) and by physicians less often (RR=0.87-0.92) than metropolitan patients.

Rural veterans with mental health conditions receive more of their psychotherapy and antidepressant prescriptions from clinicians with master's- versus doctoral-level training. Future work should assess how rural-urban differences in mental health care delivery affect patient satisfaction, cost, and clinical outcomes.