NEW YORK CITY, *June 21*—New York City residents suffered from alarmingly higher rates of "nonspecific psychological distress" (NPD) than people across the country in 2003, according to a study in the current issue of the *Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of The New York Academy of Medicine*. Symptoms of NPD include frequently feeling sad, nervous, restless, hopeless, worthless, or that everything is an effort.
New Yorkers experienced NPD at rates 60 percent higher than the rest of the nation. Certain populations in the city suffer from particularly high levels of NPD: adults between the ages of 45 and 64, women, Hispanics, individuals who are divorced, widowed, or separated, and those with incomes below $25,000. New Yorkers who reported being in fair or poor health were nearly three times more likely than other New Yorkers to have NPD.
The authors, who surveyed nearly 10,000 people in both 2002 and 2003, cite several possible explanations for why New York City residents have higher NPD rates. People who are low-income, unemployed, in poor health, unmarried, and/or lack medical insurance are at greater risk for NPD, and such populations are prevalent in New York City. That the survey was conducted in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks may also explain the elevated mental distress in New York City. "It is likely that some of the psychopathological consequences of the attacks contributed to the NPD documented here," said lead author Katharine McVeigh, PhD, MPH, a Psychiatric Epidemiologist in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Interestingly, the prevalence of NPD in New York City dropped from 2002 to 2003, but national rates did not drop during this time. The authors believe that the changes in New York City might reflect the growing distance between the time New Yorkers were surveyed and the 2001 terrorist attacks.
"The 60 percent excess prevalence of mental distress in New York City has very high social and economic costs that are shouldered by individual sufferers, family and friends, employers and society," McVeigh said. "These costs are associated with care, absenteeism and lost productivity, co-morbid physical disease, treatment side effects, premature death, personal anguish, stigma and social isolation."
What is needed now, she said, is further research to understand the cause of this higher-than-expected NPD prevalence, and a multi-faceted approach to promote mental health in New York City. Community-based interventions to reduce poverty, social isolation, community violence and other community-level risk factors for NPD may be warranted, combined with individual-level interventions to expand access to mental health assessment and treatment. Data for the study, "The Epidemiology of Nonspecific Psychological Distress in New York City, 2002 and 2003," was gathered via telephone from 9,764 people in 2002 and 9,802 people in 2003. A co-author of the study is Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, an Adjunct Investigator in the Academy's Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies (CUES) and lead author of the first September 11-specific mental health study, published in the March 28, 2002 issue of the *New England Journal of Medicine*. Other co-authors are Lorna E. Thorpe, Catherine Maulsby, Kelly Henning, and Lloyd I. Sederer, all of the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The Journal is a bi-monthly publication of the Academy and is edited by David Vlahov, PhD, Director of CUES.
Founded in 1847, The New York Academy of Medicine is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit institution whose mission is to enhance the health of the public. The Academy is a leading center for urban health policy and action working to enhance the health of people living in cities worldwide through research, education, advocacy, and prevention. Visit us online at www.nyam.org. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <../attachments/20060625/f77ae4c4/attachment.htm>