Analysis Shows Rise in ‘Diseases of Despair’ in the US Over the Past Decade

An analysis of health insurance claims data recently reveals that 'diseases of despair' like substance abuse, alcohol dependency, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors have risen in the United States over the last ten years. The said data were published in the BMJ Open online journal.

According to the analysis, the said disorders are affecting all ages with suicidal thoughts and behaviors among individuals younger than 18 years, "rocketing by 287 percent between 2009 and 2018" and by 210 percent among individuals aged 18 to 34 years of age.

Reports on the analysis said, between 2015 and 2017, life expectancy dropped year on year in the United States, the longest sustained drop from 1915 to 1918. More so, mortalities among the middle-aged white non-Hispanic males and females increased sharply between 1999 and 2015.

These premature deaths are attributed mainly to unintentional overdose, alcohol-related illness, and suicide.

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(Photo: PxHere)
Premature deaths brought by diseases of despair are largely attributed to unintentional overdose, alcohol-related illness, and suicide.

'Deaths of Despair'

What's described in the analysis as 'deaths of despair' "have corresponded with decades of economic weakening for workers," specifically those who have low levels of educational attainment, lack social safety nets, and sill or decreasing incomes and family wages in the US, all of which are believed to have added to growing feelings of despair.

According to the study authors, despair may intern "stimulate emotional, behavioral and even biological changes," increasing the likelihood of illnesses that can develop and eventually end in deaths of despair.

To characterize trends in diseases of despair over the last 10 years and determine linked demographic risk factors, researchers drew on detailed claims data taken out from Highmark, a large health insurance firm in the US.

Members of Highmark are concentrated in states that have been inexplicably impacted by deaths of despair. Specifically, these states include Delaware, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

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12 Million People Enrolled

The study investigators evaluated information for 12 million people in all who were enrolled in the Highmark Health Insurance Plan from 2007 to 2018, and with "valid details on file."

In the said research, diseases of despair were identified as diagnoses linked to "alcohol dependency, substance misuse, and suicidal behaviors and thoughts. They were also evaluated among the following age groups: below the age of "12 months; one to 17 year-olds; 18 to 34 year-olds; 35 to 54 year-olds; 53 to 55 year-olds; and those whose age is above 75 years.

Overall, the study found that one every 20 of the people insured were diagnosed to have "at least one disease of despair at some point during the monitoring period. Around 58 percent of the respondents were male, whose age is 36 years on the average.

Of the said number, more than 50 percent were diagnosed to have alcohol-related disease, just more than 44 percent with substance-linked disease, and just over 16 percent with suicidal behaviors and thoughts. Meanwhile, just below 13 percent were diagnosed with more than one disease of despair.

Link to Other Conditions

Diagnoses of diseases of despair were linked to considerably higher scores for coexisting conditions, higher anxiety rates, and mood disorders, as well as schizophrenia for both males and females across all age groups.

The study authors recognize that it was not possible to know about possibly influential "social determinants of health from claims data," on top of which, given that an approximated 87 million working adult individuals in the US are either not insured or underinsured, it is difficult to measure the real scope of diseases of despair they explained.

Nonetheless, the researchers added, while the opioid crisis stays a top priority in public health, parallel increases in alcohol-related diagnoses, as well as suicidality, need to be addressed simultaneously.

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