Does Debt Affect Physical Health? What the Evidence Says

5 min read · 1 November 2026

Some studies link debt to slightly worse physical health, but the evidence is limited and the differences are small. Researchers say cause is hard to prove, so a link is not a verdict on you.

This is a topic where it is easy to scare people and hard to be accurate. So this post stays with what the studies say, and says where they stop.

Does debt affect physical health?

Possibly, a little. The research finds links between debt and worse self-rated health. One US study also found a link with slightly higher diastolic blood pressure, but only for one of the three ways it measured debt.

What the research cannot yet say is that debt makes people ill. The review authors call for more long-term studies to work out what causes what.

For the mind side of this, see can debt cause anxiety?

What did the big review find?

In 2013, three researchers (Richardson, Elliott and Roberts) published a review in the journal Clinical Psychology Review. They looked at 65 papers on personal unsecured debt, which means debt such as cards and loans.

Their overall finding: most studies found that more severe debt goes with worse health. They also wrote that “causality is hard to establish.”

For physical health, the abstract names three things:

Self-rated health: studies found a relationship with debt.
Obesity: studies found a relationship with debt.
Smoking: the pooled result showed no significant relationship (odds ratio 1.35). That means the data did not show a clear link.

The abstract gives no numbers for self-rated health or obesity, so this post gives none either.

What did a US study of young adults find?

In the same year, Sweet, Nandi, Adam and McDade published a study in Social Science & Medicine. It used a US survey of 8,400 young adults aged 24 to 32.

They measured debt in three ways. One was a simple question: if you sold everything you own and paid off all your debts, would you still owe money? The authors call this “high subjective relative debt.”

People who said yes had:

slightly higher diastolic blood pressure: 1.01 mmHg higher on average (95% range 0.13 to 1.91)
slightly worse self-rated general health: 0.10 points worse on a 1 to 5 scale, where a higher score means worse (95% range 0.04 to 0.16)

The other two measures were not linked to diastolic blood pressure. These were total household debt (not counting mortgages) and debt compared with assets.

How do you read numbers like these?

Here is the general health result, step by step.

Step 1. The scale runs from 1 to 5. A higher score means worse health.

Step 2. The gap between the two groups was 0.10 points.

Step 3. The scale covers 5 − 1 = 4 points.

Step 4. 0.10 ÷ 4 = 0.025. The gap is 2.5% of the scale. The range 0.04 to 0.16 works out to between 1% and 4%.

Step 5. Blood pressure: the gap was about 1 mmHg between the average of two groups.

These are differences between group averages. They do not tell you what will happen to any one person.

Why can’t researchers say debt is the cause?

The Sweet study is a survey study. It compares groups of people. It is not an experiment, and it does not test what happens when someone’s debt changes.

The authors point out limits:

The group is young. They may not yet have built up enough debt to show its full health effects.
The study does not look at types of debt (such as payday loans or card debt) separately.
It does not test how debt might affect health. The authors point to future work on stress and on access to medical care.
Their analyses are specific to the United States.

What can you do if you worry about your health and your debt?

The NHS says budgeting can help you feel more in control and ease money worries. It also says it is better to get help early.

If you have a health worry, a doctor is the person to talk to. This post cannot diagnose or treat anything.

For a calm place to start on the money side, read debt is maths, not shame. For a plan for this week, see five small steps that lower debt stress.

Do this today (10 minutes)

Write down each debt: balance, yearly rate and minimum payment.

Put a regular 10-minute slot in your calendar to review them. The NHS suggests a regular time to review costs.

If a health worry has been on hold, book a time to talk to a doctor.

Nada does this maths for you. Add your debts, see your payoff date, and track each payment. It has no accounts, no ads and no tracking. Get Nada

FAQ

Does debt make you physically ill? Research finds links, not proof. A 2013 review of 65 papers found most studies linked more severe debt to worse health, and its authors say cause is hard to establish. They call for more long-term research to find out what causes what.

Is debt linked to high blood pressure? One US study of 8,400 young adults found that people who would still owe money after selling everything had slightly higher diastolic blood pressure, about 1 mmHg. The other two debt measures were not linked to diastolic blood pressure. It is one study of one group, so it is not a rule.

Is debt linked to smoking or weight? A 2013 review found no significant relationship between debt and smoking, meaning the data did not show a clear link (odds ratio 1.35). The same abstract says studies found a relationship between debt and obesity, and between debt and self-rated health. It gives no numbers for those two.

Should I talk to a doctor about my health if I have debt? If something about your health worries you, talk to a doctor. This post cannot diagnose anything. For the money side, the NHS says it is better to get help early, and that budgeting can help you feel more in control. Free debt advice, where you live, is a good next call.

Sources

Read in November 2026. The NHS page was last updated 3 August 2026. Both studies were published in 2013. The Sweet study uses US data only.

Written by the Nada team. Reviewed October 2026.

This is general information, not personal advice.

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