TABLE. Prevalence of symptoms of anxiety or depression, substance use, and suicidal ideation among adults with disabilities, by disability status and other characteristics — United States, February 16–March 8, 2021.
| Characteristic | No. (%) |
Adults with disabilities, No. (%)* |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All respondents | Adults with disabilities | Symptoms of anxiety or depression† | New or increased substance use to cope§ | Seriously considered suicide¶ | One or more of these symptoms | |
|
Total
|
5,119 (100)
|
1,648 (32.2)
|
932 (56.6)
|
640 (38.8)
|
504 (30.6)
|
1,057 (64.1)
|
|
Disability screener** | ||||||
| Limited by a physical, mental, or emotional condition |
778 (15.2) |
778 (47.2) |
417 (53.7) |
218 (28.0) |
148 (19.0) |
465 (59.8) |
| Limited by a health condition that requires special equipment |
171 (3.3) |
171 (10.4) |
104 (60.5) |
88 (51.5) |
65 (38.2) |
123 (71.8) |
| Both of above |
699 (13.7) |
669 (42.4) |
411 (58.8) |
334 (47.8) |
291 (41.5) |
469 (67.1) |
| Neither of above |
3,471 (67.8) |
0 (—) |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Sex
††
| ||||||
| Female |
2,499 (48.8) |
789 (47.9) |
445 (56.5) |
260 (32.9) |
178 (22.6) |
501 (63.5) |
| Male |
2,583 (50.5) |
838 (50.8) |
469 (55.9) |
369 (44.0) |
314 (37.4) |
537 (64.1) |
|
Age group, yrs | ||||||
| 18–29 |
938 (18.3) |
314 (19.0) |
250 (79.8) |
185 (59.1) |
136 (43.3) |
276 (87.8) |
| 30–39 |
967 (18.9) |
325 (19.7) |
259 (79.8) |
198 (60.9) |
166 (51.1) |
281 (86.6) |
| 40–49 |
818 (16.0) |
253 (15.4) |
180 (70.9) |
137 (54.0) |
125 (49.5) |
202 (79.6) |
| 50–59 |
972 (19.0) |
309 (18.8) |
132 (42.6) |
80 (25.9) |
54 (17.5) |
158 (51.2) |
| 60–69 |
790 (15.4) |
235 (14.2) |
59 (25.2) |
21 (8.9) |
4 (1.8) |
72 (30.7) |
| ≥70 |
634 (12.4) |
213 (12.9) |
52 (24.7) |
19 (8.8) |
19 (8.8) |
68 (31.9) |
|
Race/Ethnicity
| ||||||
| White, non-Hispanic |
3,103 (60.6) |
975 (59.2) |
522 (53.6) |
327 (33.5) |
266 (27.3) |
585 (60.0) |
| Black, non-Hispanic |
638 (12.5) |
181 (11.0) |
99 (54.6) |
68 (37.9) |
35 (19.3) |
110 (60.9) |
| Asian, non-Hispanic |
289 (5.6) |
65 (3.9) |
39 (61.1) |
18 (27.8) |
14 (21.0) |
47 (72.1) |
| Multiple/other race, non-Hispanic§§ |
188 (3.7) |
70 (4.3) |
32 (45.2) |
16 (23.3) |
13 (18.3) |
32 (45.8) |
| Hispanic or Latino, any race |
902 (17.6) |
357 (21.7) |
240 (67.2) |
210 (58.8) |
177 (49.5) |
283 (79.3) |
|
2020 Household income, USD
¶¶
| ||||||
| <25,000 |
1,182 (23.1) |
544 (33.0) |
286 (52.6) |
151 (27.8) |
107 (19.7) |
327 (60.0) |
| 25,000–49,999 |
1,203 (23.5) |
355 (21.5) |
179 (50.4) |
110 (30.9) |
82 (23.2) |
202 (56.9) |
| 50,000–99,999 |
1,306 (25.5) |
350 (21.2) |
191 (54.6) |
134 (38.2) |
103 (29.5) |
218 (62.1) |
| ≥100,000 |
1,204 (23.5) |
341 (20.7) |
253 (74.1) |
232 (68.1) |
205 (60.1) |
286 (83.8) |
|
Education
| ||||||
| High school diploma or less |
1,379 (26.9) |
485 (29.4) |
264 (54.4) |
155 (31.8) |
135 (27.9) |
309 (63.7) |
| College or some college |
2,876 (56.2) |
865 (52.5) |
463 (53.5) |
312 (36.0) |
213 (24.6) |
520 (60.1) |
| After bachelor's degree |
865 (16.9) |
298 (18.1) |
206 (69.0) |
174 (58.2) |
156 (52.3) |
228 (76.4) |
|
Employment status
| ||||||
| Employed (essential employee) |
1,797 (35.1) |
605 (36.7) |
475 (78.6) |
448 (74.2) |
371 (61.4) |
542 (89.6) |
| Employed (nonessential employee) |
941 (18.4) |
151 (9.1) |
87 (57.9) |
53 (35.2) |
38 (25.4) |
103 (68.3) |
| Unemployed |
936 (18.3) |
349 (21.2) |
190 (54.5) |
77 (22.2) |
55 (15.9) |
207 (59.3) |
| Retired |
1,263 (24.7) |
493 (29.9) |
142 (28.8) |
45 (9.1) |
24 (4.8) |
167 (33.8) |
| Student |
182 (3.6) |
51 (3.1) |
38 (73.7) |
16 (31.9) |
15 (29.8) |
38 (74.5) |
|
Parental role and unpaid caregiving status*** | ||||||
| Neither parent nor caregiver |
2,882 (56.3) |
741 (44.9) |
294 (39.7) |
90 (12.2) |
70 (9.4) |
323 (43.6) |
| Parent only |
611 (11.9) |
189 (11.5) |
97 (51.3) |
48 (25.1) |
21 (11.3) |
110 (58.0) |
| Caregiver role of adults only |
426 (8.3) |
117 (7.1) |
57 (48.6) |
39 (33.1) |
24 (20.9) |
71 (60.5) |
| Parental and caregiver roles |
1,201 (23.5) |
602 (36.5) |
485 (80.5) |
463 (77.0) |
389 (64.6) |
553 (92.0) |
|
U.S. Census region
†††
| ||||||
| Northeast |
899 (17.6) |
267 (16.2) |
177 (66.0) |
119 (44.7) |
109 (40.6) |
188 (70.5) |
| Midwest |
1,069 (20.9) |
349 (21.1) |
208 (59.8) |
126 (36.0) |
94 (27.1) |
222 (63.6) |
| South |
2,074 (40.5) |
700 (42.5) |
367 (52.4) |
262 (37.4) |
195 (27.9) |
442 (63.1) |
| West |
1,077 (21.0) |
333 (20.2) |
180 (54.2) |
133 (40.1) |
106 (31.8) |
205 (61.7) |
|
Urbanicity (n = 5,091)§§§ | ||||||
| Urban |
4,241 (83.3) |
1,313 (79.6) |
761 (58.0) |
544 (41.4) |
440 (33.5) |
866 (66.0) |
| Rural | 850 (16.7) | 322 (19.5) | 158 (49.1) | 87 (27.1) | 56 (17.4) | 178 (55.2) |
Abbreviations: N/A = not applicable; USD = U.S. dollars.
* Weighted rounded counts and percentages might not sum to expected values.
† Symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed via the four-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4). Respondents who scored ≥3 out of 6 on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-2) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) subscales were considered symptomatic for these respective conditions.
§ New or increased substance use was assessed by using the question, “Have you started or increased using substances to help you cope with stress or emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic? Substance use includes alcohol, legal or illegal drugs, or prescription drug use in any way not directed by a doctor.”
¶ Suicidal ideation was assessed by using an item from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (https://nsduhweb.rti.org/respweb/homepage.cfm) adapted to refer to the previous 30 days, “At any time in the past 30 days, did you seriously think about trying to kill yourself?”
** Adults who had a disability were defined as such based on a qualifying response to either one of two questions: “Are you limited in any way in any activities because of physical, mental, or emotional condition?” and “Do you have any health conditions that require you to use special equipment, such as a cane, wheelchair, special bed, or special telephone?” Respondents who completed only one of the two disability screening questions (limited by a physical, mental, or emotional condition: 17); limited by a health condition that requires special equipment: 12) were classified as living with only that disability. https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/questionnaires/pdf-ques/2015-brfss-questionnaire-12-29-14.pdf
†† Gender responses of “Transgender” (22; 0.4%) and “None of these” (15; 0.3%) are not shown because of small counts.
§§ The non-Hispanic, multiple/other race or multiple races category includes respondents who identified as not Hispanic and as more than one race or as American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or any other race.
¶¶ Household income responses of “Prefer not to say” (225) are not shown because of an inability to sufficiently characterize these responses.
*** Adults who were in parental or unpaid caregiving roles were self-identified. For this analysis, the definition of unpaid caregivers of adults was having provided unpaid care to a relative or friend ≥18 years to help them take care of themselves at any time during the 3 months before the survey. The definition of someone in a parental role was having provided unpaid care to a relative or friend <18 years. Respondents answered these questions separately. During analysis, all respondents were categorized as being in a parental role only, caregivers of adults only, having both parental and caregiving roles, or having neither parental nor caregiving roles. Adults in parenting roles might not have been natural or legal parents of children in their care.
††† https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf
§§§ Invalid postcodes were provided by 28 respondents, for whom urbanicity was not categorized. https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/definition/datafiles.html