The relationship between chronic diseases and mental health: a cross-sectional study

Objective

the current study explores the association between four types of chronic diseases and mental health issues in Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data collected in 2021

Methods

The study utilized data from the 2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The dataset was carefully selected, resulting in a sample size of 233,890 participants with 27 covariates. To assess the impact of chronic diseases on mental health, inverse propensity weights (IPW), which were generated based on the existence of the presence or absence of four specific chronic diseases (cholesterol disease, kidney disease, coronary heart disease, and asthma), were assigned to each participant. To check the balance of the selected baseline covariates, we compared the standardized mean difference (SMD) before and after applying the IPW. Linear regression models incorporating the inverse propensity weights were then utilized to examine the association between each of the four chronic diseases and the number of days participants experienced poor mental health within the last 30 days.

Results

All four chronic diseases (cholesterol disease, kidney disease, coronary heart disease (CHD), and asthma), were found to be significantly associated with mental health problems. After applying inverse propensity weighting (IPW) to the analysis, individuals diagnosed with cholesterol disease experienced an average of 0.5 (95% CI: 0.32, 0.63) longer days of poor mental health within the last 30 days. Similarly, those with kidney disease, CHD and asthma reported 1.64 (95% CI: 1.44, 1.84), 0.37 (95% CI: 0.22, 0.52) and 4.33 (95% CI: 4.21, 4.45) longer days of poor mental health. Participants with any type of the four chronic diseases experienced on an average of 0.65 (95% CI: 0.58, 0.72) longer days of poor mental health within the same time frame.

Conclusion

The four types of chronic diseases (cholesterol disease, kidney disease, CHD and asthma) are significantly associated with mental health concerns. Participants affected by any type of the four types of chronic diseases experienced an extended duration of poor mental health within the past 30 days.