Psychosocial predictors of adolescent depression and mental health referral in an urban mobile medical unit programme.

Given worsening youth mental health over the past years, mobile medical units are a potential avenue to increase access to mental healthcare services. This 1-year retrospective study examined a self-administered psychosocial assessment, and referrals made to mental health services for adolescent patients served by a mobile medical unit. We extracted psychosocial assessment responses, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) scores, and mental health referral information for patients seen by the mobile medical unit in 2022 and examined rates and predictors of depression and referral to mental health services.