Mental Health

Overall Mental Illness

Key Messages
Hospital Admission Trends Over Time
Hospital Admissions by Age and Sex
Hospital Admissions and Marginalization
Emergency Department Visit Trends Over Time
Emergency Department Visits by Age and Sex
Emergency Department Visits and Marginalization
Reasons for Admission or Visit
Outpatient Visits for Mental Health or Addictions
Technical Notes

Key Messages

The rate of both hospital admissions and emergency department visits related to mental illness increased from 2011 to 2021 in Simcoe Muskoka and Ontario.
Mental illness emergency visits dropped by 10% and hospital admissions dropped by 5% in 2021, before increasing again in 2021. It is unclear if this decrease was due to changes in health care and access during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The highest rates of mental illness-related hospital admissions and emergency department visits were observed among women, and among adults aged 20-44 in Simcoe Muskoka.
Higher rates of hospital admissions and emergency department visits were reported in persons living in areas with higher levels of marginalization.
Mood disorders were the most common diagnosis for hospital admissions, and substance use disorders were the most common reason for emergency department visits.

Hospital Admission Trends Over Time

From 2017 to 2021, there were, on average, 3,775 mental illness-related hospitalizations per year among Simcoe Muskoka residents. With the lowest number of hospitalizations occurring in 2017 (3,343) and the highest number in 2021 (4,216).
In 2021, an age-standardized rate of 701 (679.7, 772.8) mental illness-related hospital admissions per 100,000 persons was reported in Simcoe Muskoka, which was significantly higher than the provincial rate of 531 (527.0, 543.5).
There was a significant increasing trend in mental illness related hospitalizations in both Simcoe Muskoka and Ontario from 2011 to 2021; however, both the local and provencal rates dropped by 5% in 2020 before continuing the increasing trend in 2021. It is unclear if this decrease was due to changes in health care use and access during theCOVID-19 pandemic.

MentalIllnessOverallHospAdminAgeStd

Hospital Admissions by Age and Sex

For 2017 to 2021 combined, significantly higher rates were observed in women than in men in Simcoe Muskoka and Ontario, with 672 admissions (658.0, 685.3) hospital admissions per 100,000 Simcoe Muskoka females compared to 630 (617.5, 643.6) hospital admissions per 100,000 Simcoe Muskoka males.
The highest rate of hospitalizations among Simcoe Muskoka residents was reported among adults aged 20 to 44 years, with 818 (799.7, 837.0) hospital admissions per year per 100,000 adults 20-44 years of age in 2017 to 2021 (combined). This was followed closely by hospitalizations among adults over 75 with 769 (734.5, 804.4) admissions per year per 100,000.
The lowest age-specific hospitalization rate was observed in older adults, aged 65-74 years, with 447 (425.0, 470.8) admissions per 100,000 adults aged 65 to 74 years.
Age-specific hospitalization rates for mental illness in Simcoe Muskoka differed significantly from the provincial trend, where the highest rate was observed among adults aged 75+.

MentalIllnessOverall_HospAdmin_AgeStdbySex
MIAll_Hosp_AgeSpec

Hospital Admissions and Marginalization

The rate of mental illness hospital admissions significantly increases as material deprivation increases.
From 2017 to 2021, the age-standardized rate of mental illness hospital admissions was more than double among those living in the most deprived areas with 1,303 (1,264.5, 1,341.9) admissions per 100,000 people in Simcoe Muskoka compared to those living in the least deprived area with 535 (508.8, 561.5) admissions per 100,000 people.

MentalIllnessOverall_HospAdmin_AgeStdbyQuint

Emergency Department Visits Trends Over Time

From 2011 to 2021, the annual number of mental illness-related emergency department visits among Simcoe Muskoka residents rose from about 8,100 in 2011 to over 12,600 in 2021. In 2020, mental illness-related emergency department visits dropped by about 10% in Simcoe Muskoka but increased to near pre-pandemic levels in 2021. It is unclear if these changes were due to changes in health care use and access during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mental illness-related emergency department visits followed a similar trend across Ontario during this time.
The age-standardized rate for mental illness-related visits among Simcoe Muskoka residents in 2021 was 2,179 (2,140.4, 2,17.3) visits per 100,000 population.
This was significantly higher than the provincial rate of 2,022 (2,014.6, 2,029.3) visits per 100,000 population.

MIOverall_EmergDept_AgeStd

Emergency Department Visits by Age and Sex

Simcoe Muskoka women had significantly higher age-standardized rates of mental illness-related emergency department visits than men, with 2,311 (2,285.0, 2,336.4) visits per 100,000 females, compared to 2,137 (2,125.8, 2,174.3) visits per 100,000 males.
This is the opposite of the Ontario trend, where significantly higher age-standardized rates were observed in males.
The age-specific rate of emergency department visits related to mental illness was highest among adults aged 20 to 44 years, with 3,544 (3,505.4, 3,582.8) visits per 100,000 Simcoe Muskoka residents in this age group.
The lowest rate of mental illness-related emergency department visits in Simcoe Muskoka occurred in older adults, with 938 (905.0, 971.2) visits per 100,000 persons in the 65 to 74 year age group.
Significantly higher rates of emergency room visits for mental illness occurred in youth (<1 to 19 years) and adults (20 to 44 years) compared to provincial age-specific rates.

MIOverall_EmergDept_AgeStdbySex

MIOverall_EmergDept_AgeSpec

Emergency Department Visits and Marginalization

From 2017 to 2021, people who lived in areas with the highest levels of material deprivation had over twice the rate of emergency department visits than those who lived in the least deprived areas.
There were 4,448 (4,376.4, 4,520.2) visits among people in the most deprived areas, compared to 1,690 (1,642.6, 1,738.6) visits among those in the least deprived areas.

MIOverall_EmergDept_AgeStdbyQuint

Reasons for Admission or Visit

Mood disorders were the most common diagnosis among mental illness-related hospital admissions, followed by substance-related disorders (other than overdose).
Among all emergency department visits related to mental illness, substance-related (other than acute overdose) visits and anxiety disorders were the most common reasons identified.

Mental Illness Overall Hospital Admissions

MIAll_EmergDeptVisits

Outpatient Visits for Mental Health or Addictions

In 2017, there were approximately 52 visits per 100 population to outpatient services for mental health or addictions in Simcoe Muskoka.
This rate did not change from 2009 to 2017.
Among Simcoe Muskoka’s municipalities, the rate of outpatient visits for mental health or addictions was highest among Penetanguishene (74 per 100 population), Orillia (69 per 100 population), and Midland (65 per 100 population) in 2017.
This rate was lowest in Lake of Bays (34 per 100 population), Muskoka Lakes (37 per 100 population) and Springwater (38 per 100 population).

Mental Illness Overall Outpatient

Technical Notes

The specific diagnostic codes used to identify mental illness-related hospital admissions and emergency department visits are presented on the OMHRS data source page.

Outpatient visits for mental health or addictions includes any outpatient service billed by a psychiatrist, or a mental health or addictions visit billed by a family practitioner or paediatrician through Ontario’s Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).

Information related to outpatient visits presented on this page is from a report by Refik Saskin and Luis Palma titled Health status and behaviours of residents of the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit. The report was completed on May 25, 2020 as part of the response to an Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Applied Health Research Question (AHRQ) submitted to the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU). The data source citation for counts, rates and other figures extracted from the report is: ICES AHRQ Project 2020 0950 055 000.

This AHQR study was supported by ICES, which is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health. Parts of this material are based on data and/or information compiled and provided by CIHI. The opinions, results and conclusions are those of the authors and are independent from the funding and data sources. No endorsement by ICES, the Ontario Ministry of Health, or CIHI is intended or should be inferred. The contents and interpretation of this web page are solely the responsibility of SMDHU.