Depression in US Population 18 Years of Age and Older

Using R with NHANES

Author

Cubicle 3253

Starting with the 2005-2006 survey, depression was measured in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), a nine-item screening instrument that asks questions about the frequency of depression symptoms over the past 2 weeks (1).

This document examines depression, in adults, for the available survey periods. The combined 2017-March 2020 data was used as it’s the only public source for the 2019-March 2020 data. The data was examined by survey period, sex, age group, family income level and self-reported health. The score, from the PHQ-9, was categorized into the following depressive symptom groups: None (0 to 4), Mild (5 to 9), Moderate (10 to 14) and Moderately Severe to Severe (15 to 27).

Data Table
n
Depressive Symptoms
None Mild Moderate Moderately Severe to Severe
Survey Period
2005-2006 4,560 79.9% 14.6% 3.7% 1.8%
2007-2008 5,415 76.8% 15.2% 5.3% 2.8%
2009-2010 5,546 76.3% 16.0% 4.8% 2.9%
2011-2012 4,925 78.0% 14.2% 4.6% 3.3%
2013-2014 5,372 76.4% 15.0% 5.6% 3.0%
2015-2016 5,134 76.3% 16.3% 4.7% 2.7%
2017-March 2020 8,276 74.9% 16.5% 6.0% 2.6%
August 2021-August 2023 5,455 67.3% 20.1% 8.3% 4.3%
Sex
Females 22,913 71.4% 18.2% 6.8% 3.6%
Males 21,770 79.9% 13.8% 4.1% 2.2%
Age Group
18 to 34 12,900 74.0% 17.4% 5.8% 2.7%
35 to 49 10,230 75.7% 15.6% 5.6% 3.2%
50 to 64 11,198 75.1% 15.7% 5.7% 3.4%
65 or more 10,355 78.5% 15.2% 4.2% 2.1%
Family Income Level
Less than 100% 8,478 62.2% 21.0% 10.0% 6.8%
100% to 199% 10,333 69.8% 18.2% 7.7% 4.3%
200% to 399% 10,834 76.1% 16.9% 4.6% 2.4%
400% or more 10,849 83.6% 12.2% 3.1% 1.2%
Self-Reported Health
Excellent 5,920 89.4% 8.2% 1.7% 0.7%
Very Good 12,356 84.5% 11.9% 2.6% 1.0%
Good 16,251 73.3% 18.5% 5.8% 2.3%
Fair 8,311 54.7% 25.6% 12.0% 7.7%
Poor 1,815 31.5% 28.3% 20.5% 19.7%
Prevalence Ratios
Prevalence Ratio (95% CI)
Survey Period
2005-2006 Ref.
2007-2008 1.31 (1.06, 1.63)
2009-2010 1.34 (1.12, 1.59)
2011-2012 1.35 (1.10, 1.67)
2013-2014 1.40 (1.17, 1.68)
2015-2016 1.21 (1.00, 1.47)
2017-March 2020 1.49 (1.24, 1.80)
August 2021-August 2023 2.37 (2.00, 2.80)
Sex
Females Ref.
Males 0.64 (0.60, 0.70)
Age Group
18 to 34 Ref.
35 to 49 0.94 (0.82, 1.07)
50 to 64 0.89 (0.80, 0.99)
65 or more 0.56 (0.49, 0.64)
Family Income Level
Less than 100% Ref.
100% to 199% 0.87 (0.79, 0.95)
200% to 399% 0.66 (0.60, 0.72)
400% or more 0.50 (0.43, 0.58)
Self-Reported Health
Excellent Ref.
Very Good 1.59 (1.23, 2.04)
Good 3.28 (2.56, 4.22)
Fair 7.38 (5.80, 9.38)
Poor 14.31 (11.14, 18.40)
Note: Prevalence ratio for moderate to severe depression (PHQ-9 score of 10 or more)