HealthDay News — According to a study published in Psychology, Health & Medicine, more than half of Americans have at least 1 chronic disease, mental illness or problem with drugs or alcohol.
Elizabeth Lee Reisinger Walker, PhD, and Benjamin Druss, MD, MPH, with the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, examined public health records to find out what percentage of US adults have chronic medical conditions, mental illness or substance abuse problems.
Chronic medical conditions included asthma, cirrhosis, diabetes, heart disease, hepatitis, hypertension, HIV/AIDS, lung cancer, pancreatitis and stroke.
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The researchers found that 37.8% had at least 1 chronic medical condition. In addition, 18.4% had been diagnosed with a mental illness in the past year and 8.6% abused drugs or alcohol during that time.
Overall, 6.4% had a chronic medical condition as well as a mental illness; 2.2% had both a mental illness and a substance abuse problem; 1.5% had a chronic disease along with a drug or alcohol problem; and 2.2 million Americans (1.2%) have all 3 issues — a chronic medical condition, a mental illness and a drug or alcohol problem.
“Just over half of adults in the US have 1 or more chronic condition, mental disorder or dependence on substances. These conditions commonly overlap with each other and with poverty, which contributes to poor health,” Walker said in a journal news release. “In order to promote overall health, it is important to consider all of a person’s health conditions along with poverty and other social factors.”
Reference
Walker ER and Druss BG. “Cumulative Burden Of Comorbid Mental Disorders, Substance Use Disorders, Chronic Medical Conditions, And Poverty On Health Among Adults In The U.S.A.”. Psychology, Health & Medicine. 2016. doi: 10.1080/13548506.2016.1227855. [Epub ahead of print]
