Mental distress and functional health in the United States.

Introduction: Mental illness prevalence is increasing in USA. Understanding the relationship between functional status and mental health is crucial in optimizing psychiatric treatment.

Methods: We used 2000-2014 BRFSS data to examine the relationship between functional health and frequent mental distress in 51 states.

Lack of Health Insurance Among Adults Aged 18 to 64 Years: Findings From the 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of lack of health insurance among adults aged 18 to 64 years for each state and the United States and to describe populations without insurance.

Methods: We used 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to categorize states into 3 groups on the basis of the prevalence of lack of health insurance in each state compared with the national average (21.5%; 95% confidence interval, 21.

Examination of the Factorial Structure of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Recommendations for Three Subscale Scores.

Objective: The purpose of the current investigation is to assess and validate the factor structure of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System's (BRFSS) Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) module.

Method: ACE data available from the 2009 BRFSS survey were fit using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to estimate an initial factorial structure. The exploratory solution was then validated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with data from the 2010 BRFSS survey.

A new source of data for public health surveillance: Facebook likes.

Background: Investigation into personal health has become focused on conditions at an increasingly local level, while response rates have declined and complicated the process of collecting data at an individual level. Simultaneously, social media data have exploded in availability and have been shown to correlate with the prevalence of certain health conditions.

Objective: Facebook likes may be a source of digital data that can complement traditional public health surveillance systems and provide data at a local level.

Severity of psychological distress among adults with and without disabilities.

The aim of this study is to examine psychological distress and its individual symptoms between adults with and without disabilities, and among adults with disabilities, to examine whether an association exists between severity of distress and health-related factors. Cross-sectional data from the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were used for this study. Severity of psychological distress was assessed using the Kessler 6 scale of nonspecific psychological distress.

Childhood adversity and adult chronic disease: an update from ten states and the District of Columbia, 2010.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), including child abuse and family dysfunction, are linked to leading causes of adult morbidity and mortality. Most prior ACE studies were based on a nonrepresentative patient sample from one Southern California HMO.

Purpose: To determine if ACE exposure increases the risk of chronic disease and disability using a larger, more representative sample of adults than prior studies.

A triple play: psychological distress, physical comorbidities, and access and use of health services among U.S. adults with disabilities.

Purpose: Among adults with disabilities, we examined whether increasing levels of psychological distress were associated with higher estimated prevalences of chronic conditions, obesity, health care access, and use of preventive services.

Methods: We analyzed data from the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The Kessler-6 scale was used to assess psychological distress.

Effects of Massachusetts health reform on the use of clinical preventive services.

Background: Expansion of health insurance coverage, and hence clinical preventive services (CPS), provides an opportunity for improvements in the health of adults. The degree to which expansion of health insurance coverage affects the use of CPS is unknown.

Objective: To assess whether Massachusetts health reform was associated with changes in healthcare access and use of CPS.

Change in health insurance coverage in Massachusetts and other New England States by perceived health status: potential impact of health reform.

Objectives: We examined the impact of Massachusetts health reform and its public health component (enacted in 2006) on change in health insurance coverage by perceived health.

Methods: We used 2003-2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data. We used a difference-in-differences framework to examine the experience in Massachusetts to predict the outcomes of national health care reform.

Mental illness surveillance among adults in the United States.

Mental illnesses account for a larger proportion of disability in developed countries than any other group of illnesses, including cancer and heart disease. In 2004, an estimated 25% of adults in the United States reported having a mental illness in the previous year. The economic cost of mental illness in the United States is substantial, approximately $300 billion in 2002.

The association between depression and anxiety and use of oral health services and tooth loss.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the associations among depression, anxiety, use of oral health services, and tooth loss.

Methods: Data were analysed for 80 486 noninstitutionalized adults in 16 states who participated in the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Binomial and multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to estimate predicted marginals, adjusted prevalence ratios, adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI).

PHQ-8 Days: a measurement option for DSM-5 Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) severity.

Background: Proposed draft diagnostic criteria for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) suggest that dimensional assessments can supplement dichotomous diagnoses by incorporating measures of severity, frequency, and duration, providing the ability to monitor changes in symptoms over time and to guide appropriate treatment.

Methods: This report is based on data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2006 from 198,678 survey participants who responded to all eight Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) items. We evaluated use of the days version of the PHQ-8 to determine an optimal cut-point for identifying respondents with depression and to evaluate the performance characteristics of the PHQ-8 at this cut-point.

Psychological distress severity of adults reporting receipt of treatment for mental health problems in the BRFSS.

Objective: Although effective mental health treatments exist, few population data are available on treatment receipt by persons with psychological distress. This study aimed to understand the association between symptoms and treatment receipt with data from the U.S Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey.

Change in level of positive mental health as a predictor of future risk of mental illness.

Objectives: We sought to describe the prevalence of mental health and illness, the stability of both diagnoses over time, and whether changes in mental health level predicted mental illness in a cohort group.

Methods: In 2009, we analyzed data from the 1995 and 2005 Midlife in the United States cross-sectional surveys (n = 1723), which measured positive mental health and 12-month mental disorders of major depressive episode, panic, and generalized anxiety disorders.

Results: Population prevalence of any of 3 mental disorders and levels of mental health appeared stable but were dynamic at the individual level.

Changes in mental well-being in the transition to late life: findings from MIDUS I and II.

The number of adults aged 65 years and older is increasing rapidly, creating public health challenges. We used data from the 1995 and 2005 national surveys of Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) to compare changes in mental well-being of participants (n = 1007) of 3 age cohorts (ages 45-54 years, 55-64 years, and 65-74 years in 1995). Older adults experienced a slight decline in mental well-being not seen among younger participants and not explained by demographic variables, physical ailments, mental illnesses, or chronic conditions.

Determining prevalence and correlates of psychiatric treatment with Andersen's behavioral model of health services use.

Objective: This study examined the prevalence and correlates of use of health professional services for the treatment of mental or emotional problems by using Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Services Use.

Methods: In the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 169,546 community-dwelling respondents from 35 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico answered questions about their sociodemographic characteristics; perceived need; nonspecific psychological distress, as measured with the Kessler-6 scale; and use of professional treatment of mental or emotional problems.

Results: Evaluated need (psychological distress) was significantly associated with receipt of treatment for mental or emotional problems, as were predisposing factors (age, gender, race or ethnicity, marital status, and education), enabling and impeding factors (income, health insurance, and emotional support), and perceived need (number of mentally and physically unhealthy days and self-rated health).

Psychological distress and mental health treatment among persons with and without active duty military experience, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, United States, 2007.

Objectives: To examine self-reported psychological distress (K-6 scale) and mental health treatment among persons with and without active duty U.S. military experience (ADME) currently residing in private residences in the U.

The relationship between smoking status and serious psychological distress: findings from the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Objectives: To examine the associations between smoking and quit attempts with psychological distress and also by socioeconomic groups.

Methods: Using data on 172,938 adult respondents from the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System we used the Kessler-6 scale to assess psychological distress among never, former, some-day, and everyday smokers and smokers attempting to quit.

Results: Everyday smokers and attempting quitters had higher mean levels of 30-day psychological distress than never smokers.

State-based differences in the prevalence and characteristics of untreated persons with serious psychological distress.

Objectives: To examine the state-based prevalence of serious psychological distress (SPD) and its treatment using the Kessler-6 scale.

Methods: SPD and treatment data were obtained from 202,114 respondents in the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Mental Illness and Stigma Module in 35 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Results: Approximately 4.

Rural-urban variations in psychological distress: findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2007.

Objectives: To describe rural and urban differences in the prevalence and correlates of psychological distress in the United States.

Methods: We analyzed 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data from 62,913 respondents residing in 94 counties in 24 states, and District of Columbia that administered the Kessler-6 (K6) psychological distress questionnaire and met the BRFSS weighting criterion. Using the Rural Urban Classification Codes (RUCC), 94 counties fell into four groups (two metropolitan and two non-metropolitan) out of the nine-part RUCC scheme; these levels were collapsed into two distinct categories of urban and rural.

Relationships between serious psychological distress and the use of health services in the United States: findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Objective: To determine rates of access to and use of health services among adults with Serious Psychological Distress (SPD).

Methods: Adults > or = 18 years in the 2007 BRFSS were stratified based on the presence of SPD, assessed by scores > or = 13 using the Kessler-6 tool (N = 199,209). Access to and use of general and mental health services were compared for those with scores < 13 and those > or = 13 using Chi-square analyses and logistic regression models.

Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area estimates of depression and anxiety using the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 in the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Objective: To examine the prevalence of depression and anxiety in the United States by state and MMSA.

Method: The 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System collected depression and anxiety data on 74 metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas (MMSAs) and 41 states/territories (n = 217,379).

Results: The national prevalence of current depression, lifetime diagnosis of depression, and lifetime diagnosis of anxiety is 8.