QuickStats: Age-Adjusted Percentage of Adults Aged ≥18 Years with Serious Psychological Distress During the Past 30 Days, by Family Income — National Health Interview Survey, 2021

Related Materials

• Article PDF
• Full Issue PDF

Abbreviation: FPL = federal poverty level.

• Age-adjusted percentages are based on the 2000 U.S. Census Bureau standard population, using age groups 18–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65–74, and ≥75 years, with 95% CIs indicated by error bars.

† Serious psychological distress is based on responses to six questions, “During the past 30 days, how often did you feel 1) so sad that nothing could cheer you up, 2) nervous, 3) restless or fidgety, 4) hopeless, 5) that everything was an effort, or 6) worthless?” The response options “none of the time,” “a little of the time,” “some of the time,” “most of the time,” and “all of the time” were each scored from 0–4 points, respectively, and then summed for a total score ranging from 0–24 points. A value of ≥13 was used to define serious psychological distress. Only respondents who answered all six questions were included in the analysis.

§ Family income groups were defined based on family income as a percentage of the federal poverty threshold. Poverty thresholds, which are published by the U.S. Census Bureau, vary by family size and the number of children in the family. Family income was imputed when missing using multiple imputation methodology.

¶ Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population.

In 2021, 3.8% of adults aged ≥18 years had serious psychological distress during the past 30 days. The age-adjusted percentage of adults who had serious psychological distress decreased with increasing family income, from 8.9% of adults with family income Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/index.htm

Reported by: Jessly Joy, MPH, oys4@cdc.gov; Johanna M. Alfier, MPH; Deepthi Kandi, MS.

Where this page came from

This page was imported from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Material produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a work of the United States government and is in the public domain.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.