Important Facts for Health status: mental health past 30 days
Definition
Percentage of adults aged 18 years and older who reported seven or more days when their mental health was not good in the past 30 days.Numerator
Number of survey respondents who reported seven or more days when their mental health was not good in the past 30 days.Denominator
Total number of survey respondents excluding those with missing, "Don't know/Not sure," and "Refused" responses.Data Interpretation Issues
Question Text: "Now thinking about your mental health, which includes stress, depression, and problems with emotions, for how many days during the past 30 days was your mental health NOT good?" Increased number of U.S. households without landline phones and an under-representation of certain demographic groups that were not well-represented in the sample. More details about these changes can be found at: https://ibis.health.utah.gov/pdf/opha/resource/brfss/RakingImpact2011.pdf]. As with all surveys, some error results from non-response (e.g., refusal to participate in the survey or to answer specific questions), and measurement (e.g., social desirability or recall bias). Error was minimized by use of strict calling protocols, good questionnaire design, standardization of interviewer behavior, interviewer training, and frequent, on-site interviewer monitoring and supervision.Why Is This Important?
Mental health is one of the 12 Healthy People 2020 Leading Health Indicators. Mental health refers to an individual's ability to negotiate the daily challenges and social interactions of life without experiencing undue emotional or behavioral incapacity. Mental health and mental disorders can be influenced by numerous conditions including biologic and genetic vulnerabilities, acute or chronic physical dysfunction, and environmental conditions and stresses. Approximately 32% of the U.S. population is affected by mental illness in any given year.^1^ The BRFSS mental health question is an attempt to obtain a global measure of recent mental and emotional distress.[[br]][[br]] ---- 1. Kessler, R.C., Chiu, W.T., Demler, O., Merikangas, K. R., Walters, E.E. (2005). Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of twelve-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). ''Archives of General Psychiatry'', 62(6), 617-627.Healthy People Objective MHMD-4:
Reduce the proportion of persons who experience major depressive episode (MDEs)U.S. Target: Not applicable, see subobjectives in this category