Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of study sample
| Total sample | Mental healthcare service usersa | Members of the general populationa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| N | 589 | 479 | 110 |
| Age, years | |||
| Mean (SD) | 46.5 (15.8) | 46.0 (15.7) | 48.6 (16.1) |
| Range | 18.1–85.8 | 18.1–85.8 | 18.9–80.7 |
| Sex (N, %) | |||
| Male | 245 (41.6) | 189 (39.5) | 56 (50.9) |
| Female | 341 (57.9) | 287 (59.9) | 54 (49.1) |
| Transgender | 3 (0.5) | 3 (0.6) | 0 (0.0) |
| Education (N, %)b | |||
| Lower education | 135 (22.9) | 113 (23.6) | 22 (20.0) |
| Middle education | 270 (45.8) | 215 (44.9) | 55 (50.0) |
| Higher education | 184 (31.2) | 151 (31.5) | 33 (30.0) |
| Visited health professional for mental health problems in past 12 months (N, %) | |||
| Yes | 499 (84.7) | 479 (100) | 20 (18.2) |
| No | 90 (15.3) | 0 (0) | 90 (81.8) |
| Type of health professional visited for mental health problems in past 12 months (N, %)c | |||
| General practitioner | 326 (55.3) | 315 (65.8) | 11 (10.0) |
| General nurse Practitioner mental healthcare | 136 (23.1) | 132 (27.6) | 4 (3.6) |
| Social worker | 61 (10.4) | 59 (12.3) | 2 (1.8) |
| Occupational physician | 43 (7.3) | 40 (8.4) | 3 (2.7) |
| Psychotherapist | 59 (10.0) | 58 (12.1) | 1 (0.9) |
| Psychologist | 213 (36.2) | 208 (43.4) | 5 (4.5) |
| Psychiatrist | 137 (23.3) | 134 (28.0) | 3 (2.7) |
| Otherd | 31 (5.3) | 29 (6.1) | 2 (1.8) |
| Mental health problem (N, %)e | |||
| Depression | 313 (53.1) | 309 (64.5) | 4 (3.6) |
| Dysthymia | 208 (35.3) | 200 (41.8) | 8 (7.3) |
| Anxiety disorder | 208 (35.3) | 201 (42.0) | 7 (6.4) |
| Personality disorder | 105 (17.8) | 99 (20.7) | 6 (5.5) |
| Trauma- or stressor-related disorder | 79 (13.4) | 77 (16.1) | 2 (1.8) |
| Autism or ADHD | 77 (13.1) | 76 (15.9) | 1 (0.9) |
| Eating disorder | 65 (11.0) | 62 (12.9) | 3 (2.7) |
| Obsessive-dompulsive disorder | 46 (7.8) | 43 (9.0) | 3 (2.7) |
| Substance use disorder | 36 (6.1) | 35 (7.3) | 1 (0.9) |
| Schizophrenia/psychosis | 21 (3.6) | 21 (4.4) | 0 (0.0) |
| Other | 19 (3.2) | 16 (3.3) | 3 (2.7) |
| Severity of current problems (N, %)f | |||
| Mild | 72 (12.2) | 65 (13.6) | 7 (6.4) |
| Moderate | 241 (40.9) | 232 (48.4) | 9 (8.2) |
| Severe | 139 (23.6) | 137 (28.6) | 2 (1.8) |
| Very severe | 32 (5.4) | 31 (6.5) | 1 (0.9) |
| No problems anymore | 15 (2.5) | 14 (2.9) | 1 (0.9) |
| No problems | 90 (15.3) | 0 (0.0) | 90 (81.8) |
| MHQoL-7D | |||
| Mean (SD) | 12.3 (4.1) | 11.5 (4.0) | 15.5 (2.9) |
| Range | 0–21 | 0–21 | 8–21 |
| MHQoL-VAS | |||
| Mean (SD) | 6.0 (2.0) | 5.7 (2.0) | 7.5 (1.5) |
| Range | 0–10 | 0–10 | 2–10 |
ADHD Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, MHQoL Mental Health Quality of Life questionnaire, SD Standard Deviation, VAS Visual Analogue Scale
aPart of total sample
bLower, middle, and higher education refers to ISCED [32] 2011 levels 0–2 (early childhood education, primary education, lower secondary education), 3–4 (upper secondary education, post-secondary non-tertiary education), and 5–8 (short-cycle tertiary education, bachelor or equivalent, master or equivalent, doctoral or equivalent), respectively.
cSome participants indicated that they visited more than one health professional for their mental health problems in the past 12 months.
dFor example community psychiatric nurse, hypnotherapist, vitality coach.
eSome participants indicated to have > 1 mental health problem (mean number of mental health problems in total population was 2.4 (SD = 1.4)).
fSeverity was classified based on the own perception of participants