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Discomfort and disability in upper respiratory tract infection

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Abstract

Ambulatory patients with upper respiratory infection were studied to determine the relative contributions made by tissue pathology, psychologic and perceptual attributes, and demographic characteristics to reported discomfort and disability. Patients (n=115) attending a medical walk-in clinic completed self-report questionnaires to assess somatization, anxiety, depression, hostility, amplification, discomfort, disability, and demographic characteristics. Clinicians rated the extent of disease apparent on physical examination. Using stepwise multiple regression, demographic factors and physical findings explained 25% of the variance in reported discomfort. The addition of somatization scores increased the variance explained to 49%. The best model, including somatization and amplification, accounted for 54% of the variance. A model composed of demographic characteristics, physical findings, and somatization accounted for 25% of the variance in reported disability. The authors conclude that psychologic variables are important in the experience of discomfort, even after the extent of physical disease and demographic characteristics have been taken into account.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ACC 527, Massachusetts General Hospital, 15 Parkman Street, 02114, Boston, MA

    John D. Goodson MD

Authors
  1. Richard S. Lane MD
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  2. Arthur J. Barsky MD
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  3. John D. Goodson MD
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Additional information

Received from the Primary Care Program of the General Internal Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine, and the Department of Psychiatry; Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Boston, Massachusetts.

This study would not have been possible without the careful data collection of Robert Sorcher and the ongoing statistical consultation of Harriet Peterson and Paul Cleary.

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Lane, R.S., Barsky, A.J. & Goodson, J.D. Discomfort and disability in upper respiratory tract infection. J Gen Intern Med 3, 540–546 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02596095

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