07 February 2022
2 minutes of reading
Source/Disclosures
Disclosures: Healio was unable to confirm relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication.
The collaborative care model was associated with reductions in racial disparities in mental health assessment among pregnant and postpartum women, according to recent findings.
The data were presented at The Pregnancy Meeting, held virtually by the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and published in a supplement to the American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.
“In primary care, the collaborative care model allows mental health care to be seamlessly integrated with physical health care,” Emily S. Miller, MD, MPH, a maternal-fetal medicine subspecialist and assistant professor at Northwestern University, in a news release. However, in the field of obstetrics, this model is not used frequently.
Miller and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study of 4,710 pregnant and postpartum black and white women. The median age at baseline among black participants was 32 years; 262 were enrolled before the implementation of collaborative care (August 2015 to September 2016) and 313 were enrolled after (September 2017 to February 2019). The median age among white participants was 33.4 years; 2,024 were enrolled before implementation of collaborative care and 2,111 were enrolled after implementation.
The researchers evaluated the impact of collaborative care in detecting depression. Miller and colleagues created interaction terms to identify whether effect modification was present for racial disparities after the intervention.
Before the implementation of collaborative care, there were significant disparities in depression screening between black and white pregnant women, according to the researchers. Overall, the collaborative care intervention was associated with reductions in “existing racial disparities,” as shown by significant interaction terms for antepartum screening (P < .001) and after (P = .045). The disparities between the two groups were “eliminated,” according to the press release.
Additionally, Miller and colleagues reported that the model was associated with eliminating racial disparities in treatment recommendations among participants who tested positive for depression.
Previously, the collaborative care model has been shown to improve outcomes with opioid use disorder treatment retention, PTSD or bipolar disorder Y persistent postconcussion symptomsHealio reported.
“What is exciting about our research is that it shows that we can take a model (collaborative care) that has been used in primary care for years and apply it to the field of obstetrics to not only improve the detection and treatment of depression, but also to promote equity,” Miller said.
References:
New research finds that the collaborative care model is associated with reductions in racial disparities in mental health care for pregnant people. https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.smfm.org/media/3360/FINAL_Abstract_%2387_-_Collaborative_Care_and_Racial_Disparities-_Emily_Miller_et._al.pdf. Published February 5, 2022. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
Snowber K, et al. A TROT. 2022;doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2021.11.138.
Snowber K, et al. Does implementation of collaborative care mitigate racial disparities in detection and treatment of perinatal depression? Presented at: The Pregnancy Meeting; January 26-February 5, 2022 (virtual meeting).
