Suicidal ideation and mental health care: Predisposing, enabling and need factors associated with general and specialist mental health service use in France

Background: Population-based studies have shown that less than one in two individuals reporting suicidal ideation also report past-year mental health service use. Only a few studies have looked at different types of providers consulted. There is a need to better understand the factors associated with different provider combinations of mental health service use in representative samples of individuals with suicidal ideation. Aims: The aim of the current study is to assess, using Andersen’s model of healthcare seeking behaviors, the predisposing, enabling and need factors associated with type of mental health service use in adults with past-year suicidal ideation. Methods: Data were drawn from the 2017 Health Barometer survey, a representative sample of the general population aged 18 to 75 years, among whom 1,128 respondents had reported suicidal ideation in the past year were analyzed. Past-year outpatient mental health service use (MHSU) was categorized into mutually exclusive groups as no use, general practitioner (GP) only; mental health professional (MHP) only; and both GP and MHP. Multinomial regression analyses were used to model mental health service use as a function of predisposing, enabling and need factors. Results: Overall, 44.3% reported past-year MHSU and this was higher in females than males (49.0% vs. 37.6%). Prevalence of GP only use in the overall sample was 8.7%, consulting with GP and MHP was 21.3%, consulting with MHP only was 14.3%. Higher education was associated with increased MHP use. Residing in a rural area was associated with increased GP only use. Presence of a suicide attempt within the year, a major depressive episode and role impairment were associated with consulting a GP and MHP, and MHP only, but not GP only. Conclusions: When controlling for need and predisposing factors, socio-economic factors related to employment and income were associated with higher levels of consulting with mental health professionals.