Eviction ban expirations tied to rise in psychiatric care use: Study

The expiration of COVID-19-era eviction moratoriums was associated with increases in psychotropic medication prescriptions and outpatient visits for serious mental illness, according to a study published May 22 in JAMA Health Forum. 

Researchers from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of California Los Angeles used a synthetic difference-in-differences approach to evaluate mental healthcare utilization before and after state and federal eviction moratorium expirations during the pandemic. 

The study analyzed IQVIA nationwide medical and pharmacy claims data from March to August of 2020 and June to December of 2021. Outcomes included outpatient mental health visits, psychotropic medication prescriptions, mood-related visits, serious mental illness visits and suicide-related visits.

Here are five things to know:

1. Researchers analyzed data from 8,963,310 individuals across all 50 states and found eviction moratorium expirations were associated with a 0.57% increase in psychotropic medication prescriptions during the first phase of expirations in 2020 and a 1.17% increase during the second phase in 2021.

2. Outpatient visits related to serious mental illness increased 3.42% during the first phase of moratorium expirations and 3.13% during the second phase.

3. Researchers did not observe significant increases in overall outpatient mental health visits, mood-related outpatient visits or suicide-related visits following the policy expirations.

4. The findings suggest housing policy changes may influence demand for psychiatric care and mental healthcare utilization, particularly among patients with serious mental illness.

5. The researchers said psychotropic medication prescribing may have increased because medications were more accessible during periods of housing instability than outpatient therapy, especially as telehealth services expanded during the pandemic.

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