Table 1 Characteristics of study sample and bivariate analyses of the association between mental health service use and predisposing, enabling and need factors

Mental health service use

 Yes – using resources already in place

2181 (4.8%)

 Yes - initiated new use of services

678 (1.5%)

Predisposing factors

CanPath Regional cohorts

< 0.0001

 British Columbia Generations Project (BCGP)

13 786 (30.3%)

12 850 (93.2%)

936 (6.8%)

1.64 (1.41. 1.90)

 Alberta’s Tomorrow Project (ATP)

7 518 (16.5%)

7 031 (93.5%)

487 (6.5%)

1.56 (1.32, 1.83)

 Ontario Health Study (OHS)

9 652 (21.2%)

9 057 (93.8%)

595 (6.2%)

1.48 (1.26, 1.73)

 Quebec’s CARTaGENE (CaG)

5 186 (11.4%)

4 965 (95.7%)

221 (4.3%)

1.00

 Atlantic PATH

9 400 (20.6%)

8 780 (93.4%)

620 (6.6%)

1.59 (1.36, 1.86)

Age group

< 0.0001

 < 44 years

1 550 (3.4%)

1 304 (84.1%)

246 (15.9%)

1.00

 45–54 years

6 881 (15.1%)

6 060 (88.1%)

821 (11.9%)

0.72 (0.62, 0.84)

 55–64 years

14 908 (32.7%)

13 862 (93.0%)

1 046 (7.0%)

0.40 (0.34, 0.47)

 ≥ 65 years

22 203 (48.8%)

21 457 (96.6%)

746 (3.4%)

0.18 (0.16, 0.22)

Gender identity

< 0.0001

 Male

15 447 (33.9%)

14 865 (96.2%)

582 (3.8%)

1.00

 Female

29 974 (65.8%)

27 712 (92.5%)

2 262 (7.6%)

2.09 (1.90, 2.29)

 Other gender minority

121 (0.3%)

106 (87.6%)

15 (12.4%)

3.62 (2.09, 6.25)

Race/ethnicity (visible minority)

0.84

 Caucasian

43 190 (94.8%)

40 481 (93.7%)

2 709 (6.3%)

0.98 (0.83, 1.16)

 Non-Caucasian

2 352 (5.2%)

2 202 (93.6%)

150 (6.4%)

1.00

Current smoking

< 0.0001

 Yes

1 823 (4.0%)

1 663 (91.2%)

160 (8.8%)

1.46 (1.24, 1.73)

 No

43 719 (96.0%)

41 020 (93.8%)

2 699 (6.2%)

1.00

Past-year cannabis use

< 0.0001

 Yes

5 871 (12.9%)

5 226 (89.0%)

645 (11.0%)

2.09 (1.90, 2.29)

 No

39 671 (87.1%)

37 457 (94.4%)

2 214 (5.6%)

1.00

Past year average weekly alcohol consumption

< 0.0001

 Never

5 140 (11.3%)

4 704 (91.5%)

436 (8.5%)

1.00

 Less than Daily (≤ 5 times/week)

33 967 (74.6%)

31 834 (93.7%)

2 133 (6.3%)

0.72 (0.65, 0.81)

 Almost daily (Six to seven times a week

6 435 (14.1%)

6 145 (95.5%)

290 (4.5%)

0.51 (0.44, 0.59)

Enabling factors

Total household income in year prior to pandemic

< 0.0001

 < $24,999

1 457 (3.2%)

1 298 (89.1%)

159 (10.9%)

1.00

 $25,000 - $49,999

5 255 (11.5%)

4 932 (93.9%)

323 (6.1%)

0.54 (0.44, 0.65)

 $50,000 - $74,999

7 696 (16.9%)

7 242 (94.1%)

454 (5.9%)

0.51 (0.42, 0.62)

 $75,000 - $99,999

7 318 (16.1%)

6 887 (94.1%)

431 (5.9%)

0.51 (0.42, 0.62)

 $100,000 - $149,999

8 661 (19.0%)

8 071 (93.2%)

590 (6.8%)

0.60 (0.50, 0.72)

 ≥ $150,000

7 559 (16.6%)

7 017 (92.8%)

542 (7.2%)

0.63 (0.52, 0.76)

 Prefer not to answer

7 147 (15.7%)

6 820 (95.4%)

327 (4.6%)

0.39 (0.32, 0.48)

 Missing response

449 (1.0%)

416 (92.7%)

33 (7.3%)

0.65 (0.44, 0.96)

Decrease in income during pandemic

< 0.0001

 Yes

10 264 (22.5%)

9 446 (92.0%)

818 (8.0%)

1.41 (1.30, 1.53)

 No

35 278 (77.5%)

33 237 (94.2%)

2 041 (5.8%)

1.00

Medical or other professional with exposure to patients

< 0.0001

 Yes

2 739 (6.0%)

2 492 (91.0%)

247 (9.0%)

1.53 (1.33, 1.75)

 No

42 803 (94.0%)

40 191 (93.9%)

2 612 (6.1%)

1.00

Essential worker with exposure to public

< 0.0001

 Yes

2 818 (6.2%)

2 592 (92.0%)

226 (8.0%)

1.33 (1.15, 1.53)

 No

42 724 (93.8%)

40 091 (93.8%)

2 633 (6.2%)

1.00

Informational/financial/practical support received

< 0.0001

 Yes

11 315 (24.9%)

10 250 (90.6%)

1 065 (9.4%)

1.88 (1.74, 2.03)

 No

34 227 (75.2%)

32 433 (94.8%)

1 794 (5.2%)

1.00

Delay in health care for new health problem

< 0.0001

 Yes

5 108 (11.2%)

4 540 (88.9%)

568 (11.1%)

2.03 (1.80, 2.29)

 No

9 976 (21.9%)

9 397 (94.2%)

579 (5.8%)

1.04 (0.94, 1.14)

 Not applicable/not answered

30 458 (66.9%)

28 746 (94.4%)

1 712 (5.6%)

1.00

Need factors

Pattern of moderate – severe symptoms of anxiety^§

< 0.0001

 No moderate-severe symptoms

41 364 (90.8%)

39 415 (95.3%)

1 949 (4.7%)

1.00

 Remitted

1 745 (3.8%)

1 504 (86.2%)

241 (13.8%)

3.24 (2.81, 3.74)

 Incident

1 680 (3.7%)

1 263 (75.2%)

417 (24.8%)

6.68 (5.92, 7.53)

 Persistent

753 (1.7%)

501 (66.5%)

252 (33.5%)

10.17 (8.69, 11.91)

Pattern of moderate – severe symptoms of depression^§

< 0.0001

 No moderate-severe symptoms

41 144 (90.3%)

39 303 (95.5%)

1 841 (4.5%)

1.00

 Remitted

1 567 (3.4%)

1 342 (85.6%)

225 (14.4%)

3.58 (3.09, 4.15)

 Incident

1 748 (3.8%)

1 323 (75.7%)

425 (24.3%)

6.86 (6.09, 7.74)

 Persistent

1 083 (2.4%)

715 (66.0%)

368 (34.0%)

10.99 (9.61, 12.57)

Current self-rated emotional/mental health

< 0.0001

 Poor/ Fair/ Good

15 581 (34.2%)

13 505 (86.7%)

2 076 (13.3%)

5.73 (5.26, 6.24)

 Very good/ Excellent

29 961 (65.8%)

29 178 (97.4%)

783 (2.6%)

1.00

Current self-rated emotional/mental health as compared to before March 2020

< 0.0001

 Worse

7 509 (16.5%)

6 483 (86.3%)

1 026 (13.7%)

3.62 (3.29, 3.94)

 About the same

35 494 (77.9%)

34 007 (95.8%)

1 487 (4.2%)

1.00

 Better

2 539 (5.6%)

2 193 (86.4%)

346 (13.6%)

3.61 (3.19, 4.09)

Drinking alcohol more often than March 2020

 Yes

7 487 (16.4%)

6 838 (91.3%)

649 (8.7%)

1.54 (1.41, 1.69)

 No

38 055 (83.6%)

35 845 (94.2%)

2 210 (5.8%)

1.00

The presence of multimorbidity

< 0.0001

 None

13 055 (28.7%)

12 284 (94.1%)

771 (5.9%)

1.00

 1–3 chronic physical conditions

29 780 (65.4%)

27 964 (93.9%)

1 816 (6.1%)

1.04 (0.95, 1.13)

 ≥ 4 chronic physical conditions

2 707 (5.9%)

2 435 (90.0%)

272 (10.0%)

1.78 (1.54, 2.06)