Prevalence of anxiety disorders and association to socioeconomic position. Results from the Lolland Falster Health Study

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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence of anxiety disorders in a general population and the association to socioeconomic position (SEP), which has not been described in a Danish context before. Material and methods: We present data on anxiety symptoms from respondents in the rural-provincial Lolland-Falster population Health Study (LOFUS). Analyses of the questionnaire responses to the Anxiety Symptom Scale were done by descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses adjusted for sex and age. Results: 14,834 LOFUS respondents who completed the Anxiety Symptom Scale were included; According to the original algorithm 371 (2.5%) had an anxiety disorder. The adjusted odds ratios (aOR) for anxiety disorder were strongly associated to SEP. We found aOR for anxiety to be: 3.8 (confidence interval (CI 95%) 2.54 − 5.92) for respondents with no postsecondary education compared to those with 3+ years of postsecondary education; 11.9 (CI 8.89 − 16.01) for respondents temporarily out of a job compared to those working; 9.4 (CI 6.06 − 14.51) for those experiencing constant financial strain compared to those not experiencing financial strain. Relaxing the criteria for anxiety to item 10 > 1, the prevalence raised to 3.9%. The association was unchanged related to education; however, the aOR dropped to 9 and 8 respectively, for being temporally out of job, or in financial strain every month– when doing same comparisons. Conclusions: The 14-day prevalence of anxiety disorder seems low but strongly associated to SEP especially for individuals temporarily out of a job or experiencing financial strain.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
BogserieNordic Journal of Psychiatry
Vol/bind77
Udgave nummer5
Sider (fra-til)467-474
Antal sider8
ISSN0803-9488
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2023

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
The Lolland-Falster Health Study (LOFUS), Nykøbing Falster Hospital, Denmark, is a collaboration between Region Zealand, Nykøbing Falster Hospital, and Lolland and Guldborgsund municipalities. The authors are grateful to LOFUS for making the LOFUS data available for the present study. However, LOFUS bears no responsibility for the data analysis conducted or the data interpretation presented in this paper. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Nordic Psychiatric Association.

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