Abstract
This study examined health service use for mental health reasons in a cohort of people who use methamphetamine and experience anxiety or depression. Data were derived from baseline surveys of a subset of 429 participants from the ‘VMAX’ study. Anxiety and depression were measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 instruments and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Sequential logistic regression determined correlates of health service use for mental health reasons. Lower odds of health service use for mental health reasons were evident for those living in a medium/small rural town (aOR=0.27, CI=0.12, 0.62),≥weekly methamphetamine use (aOR=0.51, CI=0.27, 0.99), and not utilising professional support for methamphetamine use in the 12 months prior (aOR=0.19, CI=0.12, 0.30). People who use methamphetamine frequently use health services for mental health issues. Further work is needed to determine the efectiveness of these services for this population.