Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/263619 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 15403
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
There is sparse evidence on the impact of health information on mental health as well as on the mechanisms governing this relationship. We estimate the causal impact of health information on mental health via the effect of a diabetes diagnosis on depression. We employ a fuzzy regression discontinuity design (RDD) exploiting the exogenous cut-off value in the diagnosis of type-2 diabetes provided by a biomarker (glycated haemoglobin) and information on diagnosed clinical depression drawn from rich administrative longitudinal data from Spain. We find that overall a type-2 diabetes diagnosis increases the probability of becoming depressed, however this effect appears to be driven mostly by women. Results also appear to differ by changes in lifestyle induced by the diabetes diagnosis: while women who did not lose weight are more likely to develop depression, men who did lose weight present a reduced probability of being depressed. Results are robust to alternative parametric and non-parametric specifications and placebo tests.
Subjects: 
diabetes
depression
fuzzy regression discontinuity design
administrative longitudinal data
lifestyle changes
JEL: 
C21
I10
I12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
3.31 MB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.