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QuickStats: Percentage of Adults With Symptoms of Serious
Psychological Distress,* by Age Group and Sex --- National Health Interview
Survey, United States, 2007†
* Results are based on responses to the questions "During the past 30
days, how often did you feel 1) so sad that nothing could cheer you up, 2)
nervous, 3) restless or fidgety, 4) hopeless, 5) that everything was an effort, or
6) worthless?" Response codes for the six items for each person were
summed to yield a point value on a 0--24-point scale. A value of 13 or more was
used to define serious psychological distress.
† Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the
civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population.
§ 95% confidence interval.
In 2007, among all adults >18 years, women were significantly more likely than men to have
experienced symptoms of serious psychological distress during the past 30 days. By age group, adults aged 45--64
years were more likely than adults aged
>65 years to have experienced these symptoms. Overall,
approximately 3% of the U.S. adult population had experienced symptoms of serious psychological distress during the
past 30 days.
SOURCE: Heyman KM, Schiller JS, Barnes P. Early release of selected estimates based on data from
the 2007 National Health Interview Survey. Hyattsville, MD: US Department of Health and Human
Services, CDC, National Center for Health Statistics; 2008. Available at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/nhis/released200806.htm.
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