Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Treatment and Treatment Type for Depression in a National Sample of Medicaid Recipients

Objective:The purpose of this secondary data analysis was to describe racial-ethnic disparities in receipt of depression treatment and treatment modality among adult Medicaid beneficiaries with depression from a nationally representative sample—28 states and the District of Columbia—of Medicaid beneficiaries (N=599,421).Methods:Medicaid claims data were extracted from the full 2008–2009 Medicaid Analytic Extract file. The primary outcome was type of depression treatment: medication only, therapy only, medication and therapy, and no treatment. The secondary outcome was treatment for depression (yes-no). Crude and adjusted odds ratios (AORs) were generated for univariate and multivariate models, respectively, and 95% confidence intervals of odds ratios and p values were calculated.Results:There were 599,421 individuals in the sample. Rates of depression treatment were lower for African Americans and Hispanics, compared with Caucasians. Percentages receiving no treatment were 19.9% of African Americans, 15.2% of Hispanics, and 11.9% of Caucasians. After full adjustment, African Americans were about half as likely as Caucasians to receive treatment (AOR=0.52), Hispanics were about a third as likely (AOR=0.71), and those from other racial-ethnic groups were about a fifth as likely (AOR=0.84). Caucasians were more likely than any other group to receive medication only.Conclusions:This study contributes to evidence about the intersection of social factors and health outcomes and discusses health care engagement, stigma, and policy drivers of racial-ethnic disparities. The study is the first to identify disparities in rates and types of depression treatment among racial-ethnic subgroups of Medicaid beneficiaries in a nationally representative sample.