Mental health disorder
Age differences
The prevalence of any mental health disorder in a 12-month period declined with age.
Young people aged 16 to 24 reported the highest rates of any mental health disorder, while those aged 65 years or more reported the lowest rates. This pattern also held true for most individual disorders.
| Age group (%) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (95% CI) | ||||
| 16 - 24 | 25 - 44 | 45 - 64 | 65 and over | |
| Anxiety Disorders | 17.7 | 18.2 | 13.2 | 6 |
| (15.1, 20.6) | (16.6, 19.9) | (11.8, 14.7) | (4.7, 7.6) | |
| Mood Disorders | 12.7 | 9.2 | 6.8 | 2 |
| (10.4, 15.4) | (8.3, 10.2) | (5.9, 7.9) | (1.5, 2.7) | |
| Substance Use Disorders | 9.6 | 4.2 | 1.2 | <0.1 |
| (7.9, 11.5) | (3.6, 5.0) | (0.9, 1.6) | (0.0, 0.2) | |
| Eating Disorders | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| (0.2, 1.3) | (0.4, 1.1) | (0.1, 0.6) | (0.0, 0.5) | |
| Any disorder | 28.6 | 25.1 | 17.4 | 7.1 |
| (25.1, 32.3) | (23.2, 27.1) | (15.7, 19.2) | (5.7, 8.8) | |
Source: Te Rau Hinengaro, the New Zealand Mental Health Survey: Ministry of Health, 2004.
Note: “95%CI” (95 percent confidence interval) signifies that there is a 95 percent chance that the true value falls within this range. If the respective confidence intervals (in brackets) do not overlap, the difference between rates is likely to be statistically significant.
