Age differences in associations between psychological distress and chronic conditions

Abstract

Young people experience a higher prevalence of PD than older age groups, irrespective of the presence of chronic conditions.

One-year Patient-reported Outcomes After Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair Do Not Correlate With Mild to Moderate Psychological Distress

“…Estimates of the prevalence of psychological distress in the general population range from 5% to 38% with most estimates falling between 15% and 20% [2,5,12]. Here, we saw the prevalence of distress in our population decrease from 35 out of 85 (41%) preoperatively to 14 out of 70 (20%) 12 months after surgical intervention, a number more in line with baseline population estimates.…”

Epidemiology of Psychological Distress

“…It roughly ranges between 5% and 27% in the general population (Benzeval and Judge 2001, Chittleborough et al 2011, Gispert et al 2003, Kuriyama et al 2009, Phongsavan et al 2006) but it can reach higher levels in some segments of the population exposed to specific risk factors such as workers facing stressful work conditions and immigrants who must adapt to the host country while holding family responsibilities in the homeland. The International Labour Office stated that psychological distress affected between 15 and 20% of workers in Europe and North America (International Labour Office 2000) and one out of five workers may experience repeated episodes of psychological distress (Marchand, Demers, and Durand 2005a).…”

“…Some factors are not considered in this summary of the epidemiology of distress either because the evidence is lacking or because they are usually interpreted in terms of social and economic factors that can be assessed more directly. Health behaviour such as smoking and alcohol intake are associated with increased odds and mean level of distress (Chittleborough et al 2011, Kuriyama et al 2009, , Myklestad, 2011Phongsavan et al 2006) but the interpretation of this association is awkward. Smoking and alcohol may be a form of selfmedication to dilute the burden of distress but they may also generate some distress.…”

“…However, the measurement of ethnicity was different. Chittleborough et al (Chittleborough et al 2011) found that the odds of distress was higher in immigrants than in born Australians with the exception of immigrants from the United Kingdom (UK) whereas Phongsavan et al (Phongsavan et al 2006) found no significant difference between English speakers and non English speakers. Odds ratios were not altered by the addition of other variables in the studies.…”

“…In adults, chronic health problems and limitations in daily activities whether in self or in a close family member play an important role in the epidemiology of psychological distress (Gispert et al 2003, Mandemakers and Monden 2010, Zabora et al 2001. This association could be attributed to the diminished quality of life, the disruption of social roles, and the side effects of medication (Chittleborough et al 2011). The detrimental impact of some chronic health problems may vary across the life span (Myklestad, Roysamb, and Tambs 2011), across gender (Gispert et al 2003) and ethnic groups (Bratter and Eschbach 2005).…”