Mortgage delinquency and changes in access to health resources and depressive symptoms in a nationally representative cohort of Americans older than 50 years

D.E. Alley, J. Lloyd, J.A. Pagán, C.E. Pollack, M. Shardell and C. Cannuscio

American Journal of Public Health, 2011, vol. 101, issue 12, 2293-2298

Abstract: Objectives: We evaluated associations between mortgage delinquency and changes in health and health-relevant resources over 2 years, with data from the Health and Retirement Study, a longitudinal survey representative of US adults older than 50 years. Methods: In 2008, participants reported whether they had fallen behind on mortgage payments since 2006 (n=2474). We used logistic regression to compare changes in health (incidence of elevated depressive symptoms, major declines in self-rated health) and access to health-relevant resources (food, prescription medications) between participants who fell behind on their mortgage payments and those who did not. Results: Compared with nondelinquent participants, the mortgage-delinquent group had worse health status and less access to health-relevant resources at baseline. They were also significantly more likely to develop incident depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR]=8.60; 95% confidence interval [CI]=3.38, 21.85), food insecurity (OR=7.53; 95% CI=3.01, 18.84), and cost-related medication nonadherence (OR=8.66; 95% CI=3.72, 20.16) during follow-up. Conclusions: Mortgage delinquency was associated with significant elevations in the incidence of mental health impairments and health-relevant material disadvantage. Widespread mortgage default may have important public health implications.

Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2011.300245_9

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300245

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