CDC Report: Mental Illness Surveillance Among U.S. Adults
The economic burden of mental illness in the United States is substantial—about $300 billion in 2002. Mental illness is an important public health problem in itself—about 25% of U.S. adults have a mental illness—but also because it is associated with chronic medical diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Mental illness surveillance by organizations such as CDC is a critically important part of disease prevention and control.
For the first time, CDC has compiled data from eight CDC surveillance systems, none of which were designed to focus specifically on mental illness, to better understand the disease burden and to make recommendations about gaps in mental illness surveillance. These systems are the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS), National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS), National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS), and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).
The CDC report, Mental Illness Surveillance Among Adults in the United States, describes the extent of mental illness among U.S. adults and recommends increased efforts to monitor mental illness and anxiety disorders. Released in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the publication is the result of CDC's first agency-wide compilation of data from selected CDC surveillance and information systems that measure the prevalence and impact of mental illness in the U.S. adult population.
MMWR/September 2, 2011/Vol. 60: Mental Illness Surveillance Among Adults in the United States
FIGURE 1. Prevalence of current depression among adults aged ≥18 years, by state quartile — Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, United States, 2006
Data Sources
CDC surveys and surveillance systems that collect data on mental illness among adults
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
BRFSS is a state-based system of health surveys that collects information on health-risk behaviors, preventive health practices, and health-care access primarily related to chronic disease and injury. More »
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
NHANES is designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. More »
National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS)
NAMCS is a national survey that collects data on the provision and use of ambulatory medical care services in the United States. More »
National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS)
NHDS is a national probability survey of characteristics of inpatients discharged from nonfederal short-stay hospitals in the United States. More »
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
NHIS is a national survey on the health of the civilian noninstitutionalized U.S. population. More »
Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS)
PRAMS is a surveillance project of CDC and state health departments. More »
National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS)
NHAMCS is designed to collect data on the use and provision of ambulatory care services in hospital emergency and outpatient departments. More »
National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS)
NNHS is a continuing series of national sample surveys of nursing homes and their residents and staff members. More »
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