Depression Rates Saw Hike in Last 4 Years, During Pandemic Especially
Rates of clinically diagnosed depression and anxiety without depression increased between 2017 and 2021, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to recent cohort study results published in JAMA Network Open.
“These results support the increased need in public health and health care effort to combat the mental health crisis in youths,” authors noted.
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The study included 1.7 million people ages 5 to 22 years in Southern California. Researchers pulled data from electronic medical records, and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes were used to identify depression and/or anxiety diagnosis for each study year from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2021. Poisson regression was used to assess changes over time, and data was analyzed between June 1, 2022, and November 29, 2023.
Participants had a mean age of 14 years, and 49% were female. From 2017 to 2021, depression diagnosis incidence increased by 55.6% (from 1.35% to 2.10%) and depression diagnosis prevalence increased by 60.0% (from 2.55% to 4.08%). Anxiety diagnosis without depression incidence increased by 31.1% (from 1.77% to 2.32%) and prevalence increased by 35.2% (from 3.13% to 4.22%). Rate increases were higher during the COVID-19 pandemic than in years prior, except for depression incidence. Subgroups aged 14 to 17 and 18 to 22 years; female participants; those of non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic White, or multiple races or ethnicities; and subgroups with higher household income had the highest rates.
Authors noted that the study results may not be generalizable to the overall US population since results were representative of the general population in Southern California, which may limit results. However, the main limitation the authors recognized is the use of clinical diagnosis, and as there may be barriers to receiving clinical diagnosis for many people, diagnosis prevalence and incidence may be underrepresented.
“Considering the rising rates of both conditions reported herein, potential underreporting of those with mental health conditions only further indicates the need for strengthened efforts to identify and support young people with depression and anxiety,” study authors concluded.