ABSTRACT
This study reports the results of a household survey and search of death certificates that show a relationship between depression, anxiety, and subsequent mortality. It is part of an effort to develop practical epidemiologic techniques for continuous assessment of community mental health. Use is made of the population attributable mortality rate, estimated from a comparison of the prevalence of a given factor in life and at death. The study estimated attributable mortality prospectively by following up participants in a mental health survey of Alachua County, Florida, for up to four years. Of eight mental scales examined, five (mood, depression, somatic symptoms of anxiety, the Health Opinion Survey, and selected psychopathologic symptoms) showed significant association of scores with community mortality. The data suggest linkages of mental factors to mortality of an order of magnitude sufficient to warrant consideration of these factors as leading causes of death.
Subject(s)
Mental Disorders/epidemiology , Mortality , Anxiety Disorders/epidemiology , Attitude to Health , Death Certificates , Depressive Disorder/epidemiology , Epidemiologic Methods , Female , Florida , Health Status , Health Surveys , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Of 452 women who had been tuberculin tested twice with an interval of one year between tests, there were 105 who were pregnant at the first test and 121 others who were pregnant at the second test. An equal number of matched control subjects were selected who were not pregnant on either occasion. All 3 groups showed slight and similar increases in median diameter of induration during the one-year interval. There was no indication that pregnancy affected the level of tuberculin sensitivity.