Prevalence of neurasthenia, comorbidity, and association with impairment among a nationally representative sample of US adults

Abstract

Purpose There are no current psychiatric epidemiological studies examining prevalence estimates of neurasthenia across different racial and ethnic groups in the US. This study compares prevalence rates of International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) lifetime and 12-month neurasthenia across racial/ethnic groups in the US (Asians, African Americans, Latinos, and non-Latino Whites) and by levels of acculturation. We examine comorbidity of neurasthenia with DSM-IV psychiatric disorders and the association between neurasthenia and impairment. Methods We used a pooled sample (N = 10, 118) from two nationally representative household surveys of adults ages 18 years and older: the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (NCS-R) and the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS). Results Among the total sample, the adjusted prevalence rates of lifetime and 12-month neurasthenia with exclusionary criteria were 2.22 and 1.19%. The adjusted prevalence rates for lifetime and 12-month neurasthenia without exclusionary criteria were 4.89 and 2.80%. There were significant racial/ethnic group differences in prevalence for both lifetime and past-year neurasthenia, with Asians reporting significantly lower prevalence of neurasthenia than their non-Latino White counterparts. Less acculturated individuals were at a decreased risk for lifetime and past-year neurasthenia. Lifetime neurasthenia was associated with increased odds of meeting lifetime criteria for any depressive, any anxiety, and any substance use disorder. Respondents with lifetime or past-year neurasthenia had significantly greater levels of impairment compared to those without neurasthenia. Conclusion Neurasthenia is a prevalent condition deserving further research attention given its comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders and its association with functional impairment.

Exploring the association between depression and shenjing shuairuo in a population representative epidemiological study of Chinese adults in Guangzhou, China

“…We were unable to measure all possible psychiatric comorbidities. Anxiety disorders are the second most common psychiatric comorbidity with shenjing shuairuo, ranging from 8.9% to 11.4% (Molina et al., 2012; Ormel et al., 1994; Shi-Fu et al., 1998; Zheng et al., 1997). We also did not measure occupational stress and fatigue.…”

“…In another epidemiological study sampling Asian American ethnic groups in the United States, the prevalence of lifetime and 12 months of “pure neurasthenia” (with no overlapping major psychiatric disorders) was 2.22% and 1.19%, respectively. If inclusive of concurrent diagnoses, the prevalence for lifetime and 12-month neurasthenia significantly increased to 4.89% and 2.80%, respectively (Molina, Chen, Alegría, & Li, 2012).…”

Behavioral cognitive therapy for the treatment of neurasthenia disorders

“…Neurasthenia was first identified in 1869 by George Beard who was a neurologist in the United States. The nosological criteria for neurasthenia have been arduously debated within the psychiatric epidemiological literature (Molina et al, 2012). Beard attributed the rise of neurasthenia both to a hereditary predisposition as well as the wrenching social upheavals of modernization in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century, as large swaths of the post-Civil War population migrated from slow-paced rural communities to chaotic and bustling cities in the Northeast (Aho, 2018).…”