Table 2. Quality of life and affective well-being for each illness compared with having no chronic illness.
| Quality of life | Happiness ratings | Depressed mood | |||||
| Chronic condition | n | Mean (95% CI)* | n | Mean (95% CI)* | n | % depressed | OR (95% CI)* |
| No condition | 4665 | 44.15 (43.92–44.39) | 4992 | 3.97 (3.95–4.00) | 5364 | 18.5% | Reference group |
| Cancer | 529 | 41.68 (41.03–42.33) | 580 | 3.85 (3.79–3.91) | 630 | 29.0% | 2.07 (1.69–2.54) |
| Osteoarthritis | 1750 | 40.56 (40.18–40.93) | 1943 | 3.75 (3.71–3.78) | 2085 | 31.3% | 2.08 (1.84–2.34) |
| Asthma | 1072 | 40.35 (39.88–40.82) | 1175 | 3.80 (3.76–3.84) | 1261 | 33.5% | 2.37 (2.06–2.73) |
| Diabetes | 620 | 40.24 (39.63–40.85) | 715 | 3.81 (3.76–3.86) | 791 | 33.1% | 2.35 (1.98–2.79) |
| Coronary heart disease | 1079 | 39.59 (39.10–40.08) | 1228 | 3.73 (3.69–3.78) | 1334 | 34.1% | 2.44 (2.11–2.83) |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 614 | 39.43 (38.81–40.04) | 697 | 3.79 (3.73–3.84) | 767 | 38.1% | 2.82 (2.39–3.33) |
| Chronic lung disease | 585 | 38.70 (38.07–39.33) | 659 | 3.72 (3.66–3.78) | 717 | 39.7% | 3.04 (2.56–3.61) |
| Stroke | 345 | 37.56 (36.73–38.39) | 398 | 3.65 (3.58–3.73) | 455 | 38.4% | 2.94 (2.37–3.64) |
*Adjusted for age, gender and wealth. All values at p<0.005.