The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #49414

John F. Hough, DrPH, CHES, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway N.E., Mailstop F-35, Atlanta, GA 30341-3717, (770) 488-7830, hou3gh@earthlink.net

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms exhibited by disabled adults, toward measuring achievement of the 75 percent reduction target within Healthy People 2010 Objective 6-3 ("Reduce the proportion of adults with disabilities who report feelings such as sadness, unhappiness, or depression that prevent them from being active").

METHODS: Analysis of variance among 32,374 adult respondents to the 2000 National Health Interview Survey. A case of "disability" was defined by an affirmative response to either of two survey items pertaining to using special equipment or experiencing any health-related activity limitation.

RESULTS: 20.7 percent of sampled adults met the case definition, representing about 41.7 million Americans. 28.6 percent of all adults reported at least one depressive symptom. Among them, 6.7 percent of disabled adults reported "feeling sad most or all the time" versus 1.9 percent of non-disabled adults. Similar 30-day comparisons were reported "feeling most or all the time" on variables depicting "nervousness" (8.4 vs. 2.3 percent), "restlessness" (10.3 vs. 3.0 percent), "hopelessness" (4.0 vs. 1.1 percent), "that everything was an effort" (9.7 vs. 2.9 percent), and "worthlessness" (3.9 vs. 0.9 percent). Frequency of depressive symptoms differed by gender (53.8 percent disabled women vs. 48.0 percent disabled men). During the previous year, 59.1 percent of affected disabled adults reported no episodes of vigorous physical activity; 6.7 percent reported consuming five or more alcoholic drinks on ten or more days. All comparisons achieved statistical significance at the p < .05 level.

CONCLUSION: More intervention programs will be necessary to achieve Objective 6-3.

Learning Objectives:

• 3. Describe the importance of population-based measurement of depressive symptoms as a key component of achieving one of 13 objectives in Healthy People 2010 Chapter 6, "Disability and Secondary Conditions."
  7. Articulate differences in frequency of depressive symptoms associated with gender, race, and lifespan duration of disability.
  11. Prioritize the need for implementing public health intervention programs against depression within disabled populations.

Keywords: Disability Policy, Depression

Related Web page: www.health.gov/healthypeople/document/HTML/Volume1/06Disability.htm

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.