Journal article
Psychological distress and mental health diagnoses in adults by disability and functional difficulty status: Findings from the 2021 national health interview survey
Disability and health journal, v 17(4), 101641
Oct 2024
PMID: 38816306
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Evidence suggests that disabled people have worse mental health than non-disabled people, but the degree to which disability contributes to mental health is unclear.
This paper uses 2021 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data to estimate the association between disability and depression and anxiety diagnoses as well as psychological distress among adults.
We calculated disability population prevalence and mental health diagnoses and associated symptoms among 28,534 NHIS respondents. Logistic regressions estimated the odds of depression or anxiety diagnoses and recent psychological distress, controlling for disability and mental health diagnoses. We measured disability using binary and continuum measures of functional disability with the Washington Group Short Set on Functioning.
Disabled people have significantly greater odds of both depression and anxiety diagnoses compared to non-disabled people. Those with high functional disability have 552 % greater odds of an anxiety diagnosis (95 % CI: 5.61–7.58; p < 0.01) and 697 % greater odds of a depression diagnosis (95 % CI: 6.97–9.12; p < 0.01) compared to those with no functional disability. Similarly, those with any level of functional disability are more likely to have elevated psychological distress in the past 30 days compared to those with no functional disability.
Findings support the idea that mental health is worse for disabled people compared to non-disabled people, with increasing functional disability associated with worse mental health. This suggests that mental health is not being adequately addressed for those with the greatest functional disability. Future work should seek to better understand the systemic causes of disparities.
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Details
- Title
- Psychological distress and mental health diagnoses in adults by disability and functional difficulty status: Findings from the 2021 national health interview survey
- Creators
- Jamie Koenig - University of Wisconsin–MadisonKiley J. McLean - Drexel UniversityLauren Bishop - University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Publication Details
- Disability and health journal, v 17(4), 101641
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Grant note
- R01HD109790 / National Institute of Mental Health (https://doi.org/10.13039/100000025) U54HD090256 / Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (https://doi.org/10.13039/100009633)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- A.J. Drexel Autism Institute
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001315479400001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85194460321
- Other Identifier
- 991022029569704721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Health Care Sciences & Services
- Health Policy & Services
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
- Rehabilitation