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Somatosensory Amplification Is a Predictor of Self-Reported Side Effects in the Treatment of Primary Hypertension: a Pilot Study

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Abstract

Purpose

Side effects consist of drug-specific and non-specific symptoms. Both components are based on bodily sensations that a person perceives after taking a drug and subsequently attributes to the drug. We suggest that somatosensory amplification (SSA) may explain a proportion of inter-individual differences in reports of side effects that cannot be accounted for by drug-specific safety profiles. This hypothesis was investigated in hypertensive patients starting a new pharmacotherapy.

Method

This longitudinal study included 50 patients (66 % women, aged 55 ± 14 years) with a diagnosis of primary hypertension. Patients completed the Somatosensory Amplification Scale (SSAS), started to take their new medication, and recorded side effects on a daily basis for 4 weeks.

Results

After controlling for age, gender, number of pills taken, and previous personal and family experiences with medication side effects in the regression analyses, SSAS scores remained a significant predictor of reported side effects over the entire study period (weeks 1 and 2: β = .621, p < .001; weeks 3 and 4: β = .493, p = .003). In a subsample comprising patients taking the four most commonly used drug regimes, SSAS was a significant predictor of side effects, even when controlling for type of medication.

Conclusion

In this sample of patients undergoing anti-hypertensive pharmacotherapy, higher SSA scores predicted increased reports of medication side effects. To account for this tendency and to improve compliance with medication regimes, this group may require special education about the nocebo phenomenon.

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Acknowledgments

The research was supported by the Hungarian National Scientific Research Fund (OTKA K 109549) and the German Research Foundation (DFG, FOR 1328).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, 35032, Marburg, Germany

    Bettina K. Doering

  2. Institute of Health Promotion and Sport Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

    Judit Szécsi, György Bárdos & Ferenc Köteles

Authors
  1. Bettina K. Doering
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  2. Judit Szécsi
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  3. György Bárdos
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  4. Ferenc Köteles
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bettina K. Doering.

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Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Doering, B.K., Szécsi, J., Bárdos, G. et al. Somatosensory Amplification Is a Predictor of Self-Reported Side Effects in the Treatment of Primary Hypertension: a Pilot Study. Int.J. Behav. Med. 23, 327–332 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9536-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9536-0

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