Disability mediates the impact of common conditions on perceived health

• Published in: PloS one 2013-06, Vol.8 (6), p.e65858-e65858
• Main Authors: Alonso, Jordi, Vilagut, Gemma, Adroher, Núria D, Chatterji, Somnath, He, Yanling, Andrade, Laura Helena, Bromet, Evelyn, Bruffaerts, Ronny, Fayyad, John, Florescu, Silvia, de Girolamo, Giovanni, Gureje, Oye, Haro, Josep Maria, Hinkov, Hristo, Hu, Chiyi, Iwata, Noboru, Lee, Sing, Levinson, Daphna, Lépine, Jean Pierre, Matschinger, Herbert, Medina-Mora, Maria Elena, O'Neill, Siobhan, Ormel, J Hans, Hormel, J, Posada-Villa, Jose A, Ismet Taib, Nezar, Xavier, Miguel, Kessler, Ronald C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living - psychology; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Analysis; Arthritis; Bipolar disorder; Chronic illnesses; Cognition; Data collection; Diagnostic systems; Disabilities; Disability; Disabled Persons - psychology; Discapacitats; Female; Health surveys; Health Surveys - statistics & numerical data; Hospitals; Humans; Malalties mentals; Male; Mediation; Medicine; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - psychology; Mental health; Mental health care; Middle Aged; Mobility; Public health; Qualitat de vida; Quality of Life - psychology; Self Care; Self-Assessment; Spinal cord; Studies; Surveys; Visual discrimination; Visual perception
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0065858

We examined the extent to which disability mediates the observed associations of common mental and physical conditions with perceived health. WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys carried out in 22 countries worldwide (n = 51,344 respondents, 72.0% response rate). We assessed nine common mental conditions with the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), and ten chronic physical with a checklist. A visual analog scale (VAS) score (0, worst to 100, best) measured perceived health in the previous 30 days. Disability was assessed using a modified WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS), including: cognition, mobility, self-care, getting along, role functioning (life activities), family burden, stigma, and discrimination. Path analysis was used to estimate total effects of conditions on perceived health VAS and their separate direct and indirect (through the WHODAS dimensions) effects. Twelve-month prevalence was 14.4% for any mental and 51.4% for any physical condition. 31.7% of respondents reported difficulties in role functioning, 11.4% in mobility, 8.3% in stigma, 8.1% in family burden and 6.9% in cognition. Other difficulties were much less common. Mean VAS score was 81.0 (SD = 0.1). Decrements in VAS scores were highest for neurological conditions (9.8), depression (8.2) and bipolar disorder (8.1). Across conditions, 36.8% (IQR: 31.2-51.5%) of the total decrement in perceived health associated with the condition were mediated by WHODAS disabilities (significant for 17 of 19 conditions). Role functioning was the dominant mediator for both mental and physical conditions. Stigma and family burden were also important mediators for mental conditions, and mobility for physical conditions. More than a third of the decrement in perceived health associated with common conditions is mediated by disability. Although the decrement is similar for physical and mental conditions, the pattern of mediation is different. Research is needed on the benefits for perceived health of targeted interventions aimed at particular disability dimensions.