Comparing Adult Males and Females in the United States to Examine the Association between Body Mass Index and Frequent Mental Distress: An Analysis of Data from BRFSS 2011

Table 4

Adjusted odds ratios^a of having FMD among adults in the United States, BRFSS 2011 (𝑁=380637).

Variable^b	Categories	Adjusted OR	95% CI
Age in years (ref: 18–24)	25–34	1.07	0.96–1.20
	35–44	1.04	0.93–1.17
	45–54	0.86	0.77–0.97*
	55–64	0.60	0.53–0.68***
	≥65	0.33	0.29–0.38***
Gender (ref: male)	Females	1.54	1.46–1.62***
Race and ethnicity (ref: non-Hispanic White)	Black non-Hispanics	0.84	0.78–0.92***
	Asian non-Hispanic	0.74	0.59–0.92**
	American Indian/Alaska Native non-Hispanic	1.07	0.90–1.27
	Hispanic	0.91	0.84–0.98*
	Other race non-Hispanic	1.26	1.11–1.43**
Education (ref: did not graduate from high school)	Graduated from high school	0.86	0.80–0.93**
	Attended college or technical school	0.95	0.87–1.03
	Graduated from college or technical school	0.79	0.72–0.87***
Employment status (ref: employed for wages)	Self-employed	1.10	1.00–1.21*
	Out of work for >1 year	2.14	1.93–2.37***
	Out of work for <1 year	1.99	1.77–2.23***
	Homemaker	1.17	1.06–1.28**
	Student	1.31	1.14–1.51**
	Retired	1.18	1.08–1.29**
	Unable to work	3.43	3.16–3.73***
Annual income in $ (ref: <15000)	15000 to less than 25000	0.77	0.72–0.83***
	25000 to less than 35000	0.72	0.66–0.79***
	35000 to less than 50000	0.63	0.57–0.69***
	50000 or more	0.53	0.48–0.58***
Marital status (ref: currently married)	Divorced	1.19	1.12–1.27***
	Widowed	1.06	0.97–1.16
	Separated	1.60	1.43–1.79***
	Never married	1.12	1.04–1.21**
	A member of an unmarried couple	1.16	1.02–1.31*
Tobacco use (ref: never used tobacco or smoked <100 cigarettes in life)	Everyday	1.92	1.80–2.04***
	Some of the days but not everyday	1.70	1.54–1.87***
	Previous user of smokeless tobacco or smoked <100 cigarettes in life	1.22	1.15–1.29***
Alcohol use (ref: did not use alcohol at all in the previous 30 days)	Drank at least once in the past 30 days but not a heavy or binge drinker	0.98	0.92–1.03
	Heavy drinker	1.08	0.89–1.31
	Binge drinker	1.17	1.09–1.25***
Dietary practice^c		0.92	0.90–0.95***
Physical activity in previous 30 days (ref: no physical activity or exercise other than regular work)	Met aerobic and strengthening guidelines	0.68	0.63–0.73***
	Met aerobic guidelines	0.71	0.67–0.76***
	Met strengthening guidelines	0.78	0.70–0.88***
	Met neither guideline but had physical activity	0.81	0.76–0.86***
Number of chronic conditions ever diagnosed^c		1.33	1.31–1.36***
BMI category (ref: normal)	Underweight	1.34	1.13–1.60**
	Overweight	1.03	0.97–1.10
	Obese	1.13	1.06–1.20***

BMI: body mass index; CI: confidence interval; FMD: frequent mental distress; OR: odds ratio.
^∗𝑃<0.05; ^∗∗𝑃<0.01; ^∗∗∗𝑃<0.0001.
aOR for each variable is adjusted for all other covariates.
bThe reference category for each variable is specified within parenthesis.
cIntroduced in the multivariable model as continuous variable.