Mental Health Help-Seeking Attitudes in Kermanshah Older Adults

 Mental health help-seeking is the initial step in evaluating one's mental state, receiving an accurate diagnosis and professional intervention for mental health problems.

 The current study aimed to determine the mental health help-seeking attitudes of older adults in Kermanshah.

 This descriptive cross-sectional research study was conducted in 2022 among 538 individuals aged 60 and above who were beneficiaries of the pension funds in Kermanshah, Iran. The samples were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling. Data were collected through interviews with older adults using a standardized questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16.

 The mean age of respondents was 66.01 ± 4.09, ranging from 60 to 75 years. About 39% (210 people) of older adults had positive mental health help-seeking attitudes, and 61% (328 people) had negative mental health help-seeking attitudes. The positive mental health help-seeking attitudes were higher in older adults with higher educational levels (P < 0.001) and better economic status (P = 0.029).

 The majority of the older adults had a negative attitude towards mental health help-seeking, highlighting the importance of interventions to improve elderly attitudes toward mental health help-seeking.