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%)
North Carolina 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
-MALES 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
RACE
Non-Hispanic White 1,161 920 77.9 74.8-80.8 156 13.3 11.2-15.8 54 5.3 3.9- 7.2 31 3.4 2.1- 5.6
Non-Hispanic Black 302 224 74.7 68.1-80.4 48 16.0 11.6-21.7 16 4.1 2.2- 7.6 14 5.1 2.5-10.1
Other 303 219 70.4 62.3-77.3 60 22.1 15.7-30.1 15 4.1 2.2- 7.5 *** *** ***
AGE
18-34 355 245 67.0 60.6-72.7 65 18.6 14.1-24.3 26 7.7 5.1-11.4 19 6.7 3.9-11.3
35-44 281 205 75.0 68.5-80.6 49 16.3 11.6-22.4 16 4.7 2.7- 8.1 11 4.0 2.1- 7.5
45-54 323 245 77.5 71.7-82.4 58 17.2 12.9-22.7 13 3.8 2.0- 7.1 *** *** ***
55-64 305 234 77.9 71.1-83.5 40 11.4 8.1-15.8 18 5.7 3.3- 9.6 13 5.1 1.9-13.0
65-74 321 274 85.7 80.3-89.9 37 12.6 8.6-18.0 *** *** *** *** *** ***
75+ 182 158 81.7 72.1-88.5 16 12.2 7.0-20.7 *** *** *** *** *** ***
EDUCATION
Less Than H.S. 174 115 62.9 53.0-71.8 38 21.8 14.8-30.9 11 8.3 4.3-15.4 *** *** ***
H.S. or G.E.D. 459 361 77.7 72.4-82.2 57 12.2 9.1-16.2 22 4.7 3.0- 7.4 19 5.4 2.8-10.1
Some Post-H.S. 465 339 74.8 69.9-79.2 75 16.5 12.8-21.1 29 5.0 3.2- 7.8 22 3.6 2.2- 5.8
College Graduate 693 566 81.6 78.0-84.7 96 13.8 11.1-17.1 24 3.6 2.3- 5.7 *** *** ***
HOUSEHOLD INCOME
Less than $15,000 72 *** *** *** 12 11.2 5.6-21.2 *** *** *** *** *** ***
$15,000- 24,999 141 *** *** *** 33 23.3 15.5-33.3 13 7.1 3.6-13.5 11 11.3 5.0-23.7
$25,000- 34,999 169 129 77.5 68.4-84.5 25 13.7 8.2-22.2 *** *** *** *** *** ***
$35,000- 49,999 218 155 68.7 60.7-75.8 45 21.9 15.9-29.3 14 6.6 3.5-12.0 *** *** ***
$50,000- 74,999 250 207 82.3 75.9-87.3 34 13.0 8.8-18.9 *** *** *** *** *** ***
$75,000+ 598 509 84.1 80.3-87.4 66 11.2 8.5-14.7 15 2.8 1.6- 5.0 *** *** ***
FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY
Yes 531 334 60.0 54.4-65.3 107 21.2 17.1-26.0 49 9.8 7.0-13.6 41 9.0 5.8-13.7
No 1,259 1,049 82.9 80.1-85.4 158 12.5 10.4-15.0 36 2.9 2.0- 4.2 16 1.7 0.9- 3.2
VETERAN STATUS
Veteran 419 339 80.9 75.9-85.1 49 11.7 8.5-15.8 13 2.2 1.1- 4.4 18 5.2 3.0- 9.0
Non-Veteran 1,377 1,047 74.9 71.8-77.7 218 16.0 13.7-18.7 73 5.6 4.3- 7.3 39 3.5 2.2- 5.5
RURAL-URBAN RESIDENT1
Urban 545 423 77.5 72.7-81.6 89 16.9 13.2-21.4 25 4.4 2.7- 7.0 *** *** ***
Regional City or Suburban County 490 377 74.8 69.5-79.4 66 14.9 11.3-19.4 25 4.8 3.1- 7.4 22 5.5 3.2- 9.3
Rural 765 589 76.1 71.9-79.9 112 13.7 11.1-16.9 36 5.5 3.7- 8.0 28 4.7 2.6- 8.3
EMPLOYMENT STATUS
Employed or Self-Employed 1,088 868 79.3 76.1-82.1 155 14.2 11.8-17.0 44 4.4 3.1- 6.1 21 2.2 1.3- 3.5
Unemployed 86 *** *** *** 19 17.5 10.7-27.4 11 14.3 7.6-25.3 *** *** ***
Retired 457 384 84.0 79.2-87.8 53 13.0 9.5-17.6 13 1.6 0.8- 3.2 *** *** ***
Unable to Work 120 *** *** *** 30 22.2 14.8-31.9 14 12.2 6.2-22.8 *** *** ***
Other not in Labor Force 39 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
POVERTY LEVEL2
Less than 50% 28 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
50% to 100% 124 *** *** *** 21 15.9 8.9-26.8 12 5.9 2.8-11.9 *** *** ***
101% to 150% 139 91 67.0 56.0-76.4 31 19.8 12.6-29.8 *** *** *** *** *** ***
151% to 200% 138 97 68.2 58.1-76.8 25 19.4 12.7-28.6 *** *** *** *** *** ***
More than 200% 1,008 835 82.2 79.2-84.9 130 12.9 10.6-15.6 31 3.3 2.2- 5.0 12 1.6 0.9- 2.8
NC DEPT OF COMMERCE COUNTY TIER3
Most Distressed Counties (Tier 1) 464 357 75.7 69.6-80.9 67 13.7 10.4-17.8 23 4.3 2.5- 7.2 17 6.4 3.0-13.1
Less Distressed Counties (Tier 2) 759 593 77.5 73.6-81.1 98 12.4 9.7-15.6 40 6.4 4.4- 9.1 28 3.7 2.4- 5.8
Least Distressed Counties (Tier 3) 577 439 74.9 70.3-79.0 102 19.0 15.3-23.4 23 3.8 2.4- 5.8 13 2.4 1.3- 4.3
CDC SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX4
1st Quartile - Least Vulnerable 562 441 77.3 72.4-81.6 81 14.2 11.0-18.1 24 4.0 2.5- 6.2 16 4.5 2.2- 9.1
2nd Quartile 471 368 76.4 71.2-80.8 66 15.7 11.9-20.5 28 6.5 4.3- 9.6 *** *** ***
3rd Quartile 526 386 71.9 66.8-76.5 87 16.6 13.2-20.6 24 4.9 3.1- 7.8 29 6.6 4.0-10.6
4th Quartile - Most Vulnerable 241 194 83.5 76.9-88.5 33 11.9 7.8-17.7 *** *** *** *** *** ***

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

2Based on 2021 U.S Census Bureau poverty threshold incomes. 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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