2021 BRFSS Survey Results: North Carolina

Depression and Anxiety

PHQ-4 Psychological Distress Category*

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  Total
Respond.^		 None Mild Moderate Severe
N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%)
TOTAL 3,973 2,935 72.6 70.7-74.3 640 16.1 14.7-17.6 253 7.2 6.2- 8.4 145 4.1 3.3- 5.1
GENDER
Male 1,800 1,389 76.1 73.5-78.6 267 15.1 13.1-17.3 86 4.9 3.8- 6.3 58 3.8 2.7- 5.5
Female 2,173 1,546 69.5 66.9-71.9 373 17.0 15.1-19.1 167 9.2 7.6-11.1 87 4.4 3.4- 5.6
RACE/ETHNICITY
Non-Hispanic White 2,522 1,917 74.3 72.0-76.4 367 14.5 12.9-16.3 154 7.4 6.1- 9.0 84 3.8 2.9- 5.0
Non-Hispanic Black 758 530 70.6 66.3-74.5 133 16.9 13.9-20.4 58 7.3 5.2-10.2 37 5.2 3.4- 7.9
Non-Hispanic Am Indian 120 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Non-Hispanic Multiracial 53 *** *** *** 13 15.3 7.9-27.5 *** *** *** *** *** ***
Non-Hispanic Other 74 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Hispanic 389 285 71.1 64.8-76.6 79 22.4 17.3-28.5 17 5.1 2.9- 8.7 *** *** ***
AGE
18-34 707 459 62.0 57.5-66.2 141 20.2 16.8-24.1 72 11.9 9.2-15.2 35 5.9 4.0- 8.6
35-44 620 432 70.8 66.1-75.1 120 18.1 14.7-22.1 43 7.0 4.7-10.5 25 4.1 2.5- 6.4
45-54 657 475 73.8 69.6-77.6 111 15.2 12.3-18.7 47 6.9 5.0- 9.4 24 4.1 2.4- 6.7
55-64 697 512 74.7 70.4-78.5 108 14.3 11.6-17.5 43 5.9 4.1- 8.4 34 5.1 3.0- 8.6
65-74 746 603 82.8 79.1-85.9 103 12.6 9.9-15.9 28 3.2 2.0- 5.2 12 1.4 0.7- 2.7
75+ 464 383 79.0 73.0-84.0 51 13.9 10.1-18.8 18 5.2 2.4-10.8 12 1.9 0.9- 3.8
EDUCATION
Less Than H.S. 363 232 62.2 55.5-68.5 72 18.2 13.6-23.9 37 12.3 8.6-17.3 22 7.3 4.2-12.3
H.S. or G.E.D. 913 667 72.7 68.8-76.3 133 13.2 10.8-16.0 65 8.3 6.1-11.2 48 5.8 3.9- 8.4
Some Post-H.S. 1,075 752 70.1 66.6-73.4 202 19.0 16.3-22.1 74 6.9 5.1- 9.1 47 4.0 2.9- 5.5
College Graduate 1,605 1,269 79.0 76.5-81.2 231 14.7 12.7-16.8 77 4.7 3.6- 6.1 28 1.6 1.1- 2.5
FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY
Yes 1,243 711 53.8 50.2-57.3 267 21.3 18.5-24.3 151 14.3 11.7-17.3 114 10.7 8.5-13.4
No 2,705 2,208 80.8 78.8-82.6 367 13.8 12.2-15.5 100 4.2 3.3- 5.3 30 1.3 0.8- 2.0
VETERAN STATUS
Veteran 485 383 79.3 74.7-83.3 57 11.3 8.4-15.1 20 3.4 2.0- 5.7 25 6.0 3.8- 9.4
Non-Veteran 3,481 2,546 71.7 69.7-73.6 583 16.7 15.2-18.4 233 7.7 6.6- 9.0 119 3.9 3.1- 4.9
EMPLOYMENT STATUS
Employed or Self-Employed 2,140 1,631 75.5 73.2-77.7 336 15.5 13.7-17.5 122 6.4 5.1- 7.9 51 2.6 1.9- 3.6
Unemployed 197 102 48.9 40.3-57.6 45 18.9 13.5-25.7 33 21.9 15.1-30.5 17 10.4 5.5-18.7
Retired 1,102 907 82.2 79.0-85.0 135 12.8 10.5-15.6 41 3.5 2.1- 5.6 19 1.6 0.9- 2.7
Unable to Work 282 120 41.9 34.6-49.5 70 21.3 16.2-27.4 40 15.1 10.4-21.4 52 21.8 15.3-30.0
Other not in Labor Force 227 157 66.3 57.7-74.0 49 23.7 17.0-32.0 16 7.4 3.9-13.4 *** *** ***
HOUSEHOLD INCOME
Less than $15,000 219 110 48.0 38.9-57.3 43 17.8 12.3-25.1 30 15.3 9.7-23.3 36 18.9 11.8-28.8
$15,000- 24,999 362 221 59.1 52.1-65.7 86 22.6 17.7-28.5 38 10.4 7.0-15.2 17 7.9 4.3-14.2
$25,000- 34,999 410 283 68.7 62.7-74.1 70 15.0 11.3-19.6 30 9.6 6.2-14.6 27 6.7 4.3-10.4
$35,000- 49,999 416 291 69.6 63.8-74.8 82 19.5 15.2-24.6 31 7.9 5.2-11.8 12 3.0 1.4- 6.0
$50,000-74,999 507 404 79.0 74.2-83.2 74 14.2 10.8-18.6 19 4.4 2.6- 7.2 *** *** ***
$75,000-100,000 412 332 80.5 75.3-84.8 56 14.1 10.3-19.0 21 4.8 3.0- 7.6 *** *** ***
$100,000-150,000 439 355 78.5 73.4-82.8 62 15.3 11.6-19.9 17 4.4 2.5- 7.5 *** *** ***
$150,000+ 356 304 83.5 78.2-87.8 33 10.1 6.8-14.5 12 4.6 2.3- 8.9 *** *** ***
Don't know/Not sure or Refused 852 635 71.9 67.6-75.9 134 17.0 13.8-20.7 55 7.9 5.5-11.2 28 3.2 2.0- 5.0
POVERTY LEVEL1
Less than 50% 92 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
50% to 100% 315 176 55.0 47.2-62.5 65 16.5 12.0-22.2 38 12.6 8.4-18.6 36 15.9 10.1-24.1
101% to 150% 347 220 61.7 54.9-68.2 72 19.3 14.7-24.9 37 12.3 8.3-17.8 18 6.7 3.9-11.1
151% to 200% 311 213 67.4 60.7-73.5 56 17.6 13.1-23.3 21 7.6 4.6-12.3 21 7.4 4.3-12.4
More than 200% 2,042 1,630 79.3 77.1-81.4 289 14.4 12.6-16.4 90 4.7 3.7- 6.0 33 1.6 1.0- 2.3
Don't know/Not sure or Refused 852 635 71.9 67.6-75.9 134 17.0 13.8-20.7 55 7.9 5.5-11.2 28 3.2 2.0- 5.0
HOUSING
Own 2,702 2,133 77.3 75.2-79.3 375 14.6 13.0-16.4 127 5.2 4.1- 6.4 67 2.9 2.1- 4.0
Rent 972 615 60.8 56.8-64.7 205 19.7 16.9-22.8 92 12.1 9.5-15.2 60 7.4 5.4-10.2
Other arrangement 263 158 58.7 50.8-66.2 55 20.6 15.0-27.6 33 14.2 9.2-21.4 17 6.4 3.5-11.6
RURAL-URBAN RESIDENT2
Urban 1,165 879 75.3 72.1-78.2 188 16.0 13.5-18.8 67 5.9 4.4- 7.8 31 2.9 1.9- 4.2
Regional City or Suburban County 1,072 790 71.4 67.9-74.7 166 16.8 14.1-19.9 69 6.7 5.1- 8.7 47 5.1 3.6- 7.3
Rural 1,736 1,266 71.2 68.1-74.0 286 15.7 13.6-18.0 117 8.8 6.9-11.1 67 4.4 3.1- 6.2
NC DEPT OF COMMERCE COUNTY TIER3
Most Distressed Counties (Tier 1) 1,122 806 71.3 67.4-75.0 196 16.8 14.2-19.9 77 6.9 4.9- 9.8 43 4.9 3.0- 7.9
Less Distressed Counties (Tier 2) 1,617 1,206 71.9 69.0-74.7 238 14.5 12.5-16.8 107 8.8 7.1-11.0 66 4.7 3.5- 6.2
Least Distressed Counties (Tier 3) 1,234 923 74.1 71.0-76.9 206 17.3 14.9-20.1 69 5.6 4.3- 7.3 36 3.0 2.0- 4.3
CDC SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX4
1st Quartile - Least Vulnerable 1,193 911 73.9 70.5-77.0 179 15.4 13.0-18.2 66 6.7 4.9- 9.0 37 4.0 2.6- 6.2
2nd Quartile 1,003 746 73.0 69.5-76.3 157 16.2 13.5-19.3 70 7.7 6.0-10.0 30 3.0 2.0- 4.6
3rd Quartile 1,152 823 69.8 66.3-73.1 195 16.1 13.8-18.7 75 8.0 6.0-10.6 59 6.1 4.4- 8.3
4th Quartile - Most Vulnerable 625 455 74.6 69.5-79.0 109 17.7 13.8-22.4 42 5.1 3.3- 7.7 19 2.7 1.4- 5.1

Back to Depression and Anxiety.

*4-item Patient Health Questionnaire based off the 4 questions in this module on Depression and Anxiety.
Over the last 2 weeks how often have you been 'bothered by having little interest or pleasure in doing things?', 'have you been bothered by feeling down, depressed or hopeless?'
'feeling nervous, anxious or on edge?' and 'have you been bothered by not being able to control worrying?'

PLEASE NOTE: Due to changes in the weighting methodology and other factors, results from 2021 are NOT comparable to 2010
and earlier years.

***The estimate was suppressed because it did not meet statistical reliability standards. See BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for more details.

1Based on 2021 U.S Census Bureau poverty threshold incomes. Please see the BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

2Based on U.S Census Bureau population estimates at the county level. Please see the BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

3NC Dept. of Commerce County Tier Classification, based on respondent’s county of residence.
Please see the BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

4Quartile of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index
(https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index.html) for respondent’s county of residence.
Please see the BRFSS 2021 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

^Use caution in interpreting cell sizes less than 50, % = Percentage, C.I.(95%) = Confidence Interval (at 95 percent probability level).
Percentages are weighted to population characteristics and therefore cannot be calculated exactly from the numbers in this table.

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This page was generated on 19AUG22.

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