The association between psychological distress, alcohol use and physical non-communicable diseases in a nationally representative sample of South Africans

Katherine Sorsdahl*, Ronel Sewpaul, Meredith Evans, Pamela Naidoo, Bronwyn Myers, Dan J. Stein

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examines the associations between symptoms of mental disorders and diabetes and hypertension in a nationally representative sample of South Africans. We examined unadjusted and adjusted associations of socio-demographic characteristics, alcohol use and psychological distress with diabetes and hypertension. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that hypertension is significantly associated with age, while diabetes is significantly associated with age, population group and psychological distress. The association between psychological distress and diabetes found here suggests the usefulness of additional research using more detailed measures of psychiatric disorders in local studies and reinforces clinical calls for attention to psychiatric screening in patients with diabetes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)618-628
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Health Psychology
Volume23
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2018
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
Department forInternational Development, UK)
Department of Health in South Africa
Department for International Development

    Keywords

    • alcohol use
    • diabetes
    • hypertension
    • low- and middle-income countries
    • non-communicable diseases
    • psychological distress

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