Psychosocial stress and its relationship to illness behavior and illnesses encountered commonly by family practitioners

Abstract

Computerized, clinical data, pertaining to 21,000 patients at 4 family health centers, were used to examine possible relationships between psychosocial stress and physically manifested illnesses. Statistical tests revealed a significantly higher age-sex standardized prevalence rate of somatic complaints (e.g. arrythmia, chest pain, cystitis, cellulitis, obesity, abdominal pain, lower back pain, hypertension, headaches, dizziness, malaise, acute bronchitis, osteoarthritis, acute upper respiratory tract infections) in patients diagnosed with 1 of 4 selected indicators of psychosocial stress (i.e. anxiety, depression, couple conflict, child abuse/neglect) compared with the patient population which was not diagnosed as stressed. The findings are discussed in the context of the case-control research design used in the study. Although causal relationships cannot be established as a definitive outcome of the study, the findings lend further support to the mounting evidence that psychosocial stress is a contributing factor in a wide variety of physical complaints encountered by Primary Care physicians.