Kela finds students rely on multiple health services

Students use several types of healthcare, with only 13% of male students using the Finnish Student Health Service, according to a new register study by Kela reported by Yle.

During the 2023–2024 academic year, nearly half of all students used services from at least one other healthcare provider alongside the Finnish Student Health Service, known as YTHS.

The study examined how higher education students used six types of services: YTHS, health centres, emergency care, specialist outpatient care, occupational healthcare and private doctors.

Occupational healthcare was even more commonly used by male students than YTHS. Kela found that 24% of female students visited a YTHS doctor, compared with one in eight male students, or 13%. One in three women and one in five men visited a YTHS nurse.

Male students used health centre services as often as YTHS services, while they used the other services less frequently. Female students used YTHS, occupational healthcare and health centres at roughly equal rates and used the other services less often.

Annika Saarikko, chief executive of YTHS, said the foundation’s resource challenges were also reflected in healthcare use during the academic year.

Mental health-related reasons accounted for a significant share of students’ healthcare visits. More than 40% of all YTHS visits were linked to mental health problems.