The study aimed to assess the prevalence rates and sociodemographic characteristics associated with mental health issues and their co-occurrence. Researchers conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study using data from 25,269 female and 8,389 male participants in the French NutriNet-Santé population-based cohort. Individuals were categorized into eight categories: 1. No mental health issues; 2. Anxiety alone; 3. Insomnia alone; 4. Eating disorders (ED) alone; 5. Co-occurring anxiety and insomnia; 6. Co-occurring anxiety and ED; 7. Co-occurring insomnia and ED; 8. Co-occurrence of all three (anxiety, insomnia, and ED). Analyses involved weighting the data according to the 2016 French national census and applying chi-squared tests for comparisons.
Overall, 40.6% of participants exhibited at least one mental health condition, while 2.3% presented with all three conditions simultaneously. Both isolated and co-occurring conditions were generally more prevalent among women compared to men. Among men, the group with all three conditions showed the highest rates of overweight (52.1%) and current smoking (23.2%). Men with co-occurring insomnia and ED had the highest prevalence of obesity (45.8%) and low levels of physical activity (44.3%). Women with two or more conditions displayed the highest rates of current smoking. These results may guide future investigations, preventive strategies, and public health policies targeting mental health co-occurrence.
