How Do Mental Health Treatment Delays Impact Long-Term Mortality?

Sydney Costantini

American Economic Review, 2025, vol. 115, issue 5, 1672-1707

Abstract: With a growing mental health crisis and a shortage of behavioral health specialists, those seeking mental health treatment often face long wait times to obtain care. I study how clinic congestion affects mortality for veterans experiencing mental health emergencies. I find that longer waiting times make it more likely that patients miss their follow-up mental health visit, consequently increasing the probability that they permanently disengage from care. A 1 standard deviation increase in wait time between the emergency department visit and follow-up appointment date (11.7 days) increases two-year mortality by about 1.5 percent.

JEL-codes: H51 I12 I13 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1257/aer.20240226

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