The risk of outpatient mental health care service use following departure from work: a cohort register study of migrant and non-migrant women

BACKGROUND: Non-workforce participation is associated with increased risk of mental disorder in the general population. Migrant women face disadvantage in the labour market but use mental health services to a lesser extent. This study investigates the risk of using mental health services following departure from the workforce among women in Norway, and if the strength of the relationship varies for migrant and non-migrant women. METHODS: Using linked registry data, we followed a cohort of 746,635 women who had a stable workforce attachment over a three-year period. We used Cox proportional hazard models to determine the risk of using outpatient mental health services (OPMH) following departure from the workforce. We included an interaction analysis to determine if the relationship differed by migrant group and length of stay and conducted subsequent stratified analyses. RESULTS: Departure from the workforce was associated with a 40% increased risk of using OPMH services among all women. Interaction analyses and subsequent stratified analyses indicated that departure from the workforce was associated with an increased risk of using OPMH services among non-migrant women and among women from countries outside of the European Economic Area, regardless of length of stay. For women from the European Economic Area with 2–6 years or 7–15 years in Norway, however, there was no increased risk. CONCLUSIONS: Departure from the workforce is associated with increased risk of mental health service use, also among migrant women. Migrant women as a group, are more often temporarily employed and therefore at greater risk of falling out of the workforce and developing a mental disorder. However, women with shorter length of stays may experience greater barriers to care and service use may be a poorer indicator of actual mental disorder. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-022-08113-z.