Analysis of 2003 New Mexico Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data examined depression prevalence and associated health behaviors. The survey included 5,494 adults with a 56.4% CASRO response rate. Researchers used six questions adapted from the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) to assess depression among adults, with respondents considered depressed if answering affirmatively to screening questions about feeling down or lacking interest in activities and reporting nearly daily depressive symptoms across four core symptom questions.
The overall depression prevalence among New Mexico adults was 3.8% (95% confidence interval 3.2%-4.5%), varying significantly by age, race/ethnicity, income, and education but not by sex. Adults aged 45-54 showed highest depression prevalence at 4.9%; those over 75 showed lowest at 1.7%. Depression prevalence ranged from 4.9% among Hispanics to 1.8% among American Indians/Alaska Natives. By income, those with annual household incomes below $10,000 had the highest prevalence at 12.7%; those earning over $50,000 had the lowest at 1.4%. Adults without high school graduation showed the highest prevalence at 7.8%; college graduates showed the lowest at 1.7%.
Adults with depression reported significantly higher rates of fair or poor general health (53.8% versus 15.2%), no moderate or vigorous physical activity (26.2% versus 7.8%), current smoking (54.4% versus 20.7%), binge drinking (24.9% versus 14.5%), obesity (29.9% versus 20.1%), high blood pressure (30.9% versus 20.9%), and high blood cholesterol (40.7% versus 26.9%). No significant difference existed for diabetes between groups.
Findings underscore the importance of considering mental health in preventing and treating chronic illnesses.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5439a4.htm