Self-reported Mental Health Concerns Among Men Presenting to a Men's Health Clinic
Leelakrishna Channa, BS1, Ilene Staff, PhD2, Tara McLaughlin, PhD2, Kevin Pinto, BS2, Laura Olivo Valentin, BS2, Jared Bieniek, MD3.
1University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA, 2Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT, USA, 3Hartford HealthCare, Hartford, CT, USA.
BACKGROUND: Urologic diseases commonly impact patients' wellbeing, especially considering the sensitive nature of many urologic conditions. Despite the value of mental health screening as part of urologic care, most providers are unfamiliar with screening tools and recognizing individuals with mental health needs. This study is designed to assess rates of self-reported mental health concerns and identify potential risk factors among men presenting to a men's health clinic. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of male patients seeing a urologist in a multidisciplinary men's health clinic between 3/1/19 and 2/29/20 were reviewed. Patients completed a self-reported men's health checklist based on preventative health guidelines in addition to weight and mental health screenings. Demographics, clinical data, and checklist responses were compared between men who indicated they were "struggling with mental health" and those who did not. Wilcoxon ranked sum test, Pearson's chi-squared test, or Fisher's exact tests were used for univariate analysis. A logistic regression predicting mental health struggles (MHS) assessed independence of risk factors. SPSS v26 was used for all statistical analyses with a p<0.05 significance level. RESULTS: Of 1632 men completing the questionnaire, 157 (9.6%) self-reported MHS. Race and ethnicity were similar between MHS groups. Significant relationships with age, BMI, insurance category, and self-reported struggles with weight were noted in men indicating MHS. Both groups had the same top three primary diagnoses (prostate cancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia, and erectile dysfunction [ED]) but were unevenly represented with ED much more common in those indicating MHS vs not (Table 1). Age, insurance, and primary diagnosis remained statistically significant in multivariate analysis. Struggles with weight demonstrated a particularly strong predictive value (OR 4.3; 95% CI: 2.8-6.6; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Mental health is an under recognized element of men's health with nearly 10% of patients presenting to a men's health clinic reporting mental health struggles. Younger age, higher BMI, ED, and especially struggles with weight were associated with mental health concerns. Better screening tools are needed in the men's health arena to address these concerns.
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