Experience Of Physical Symptoms Research Articles

Higher Rates of Physical Symptoms Among Homeless Women Do Not Appear to be Due to Reporting Bias: A Comment on Ritchey et al. (1991)

Health statistics consistently show women to have higher rates of morbidity than men, particularly for mild conditions (Verbrugge 1976, 1985, 1989). One of the hypothesized explanations of this relationship is that women are more willing than men to report their physical and mental health problems. Although this explanation is inconsistent with most of the available evidence (see below), it needs to be taken very seriously because it raises fundamental questions about the observed gender difference in morbidity and, more generally, the techniques used in data acquisition. In a recent paper in this journal, Ritchey, La Gory, and Mullis (1991) look at the reports of health risks and 24 physical symptoms among 72 homeless men and 28 homeless women. According to Ritchey et al., homelessness is "a natural laboratory" because homeless men are at much greater risk of illness and, as a consequence, "gender differences in reported symptoms should be reversed, attenuated, or erased" (p. 45). Their position is that if women report more symptoms than men, "it would suggest that the higher female morbidity detected in all types of health surveys is influenced greatly by reporting bias" (p. 35). Ritchey et al. find that the number of symptoms reported by homeless women (x =7.86) was significantly greater than the number of symptoms reported by homeless men (x = 5.19). In their final analysis they report that they "isolate the direct effect of sex" by statistically controlling the risk factors related to the experience of physical symptoms (p. 44). The estimated effects of these statistical controls modestly increase the gender difference in the number of symptoms from 2.67 to 2.88. Ritchey et al.

The Relationship of Hardiness, Gender, and Stress to Health Outcomes in Adolescents

The present study examined the relationship between the hardiness components of commitment, control, and challenge, and the experience of physical and psychological symptoms in a sample of 150 (75 male, 75 female) adolescents. A measure of psychosocial stress was included to permit an examination of whether the hardiness components interact with stress in predicting health outcomes. Analyses revealed main effects of stress, gender, and the hardiness components of commitment and control for several of the health measures. More important was the finding of a consistent interaction of stress, gender, and hardiness for several of the health measures. Whereas low-stress males experienced few physical and psychological symptoms regardless of their levels of commitment and control, high-stress males experienced more problems when they were low rather than high in either commitment or control. The hardiness components did not interact with stress in the prediction of health outcomes among females.

Older adults: factors that predict the use of over‐the‐counter medication

Previous research has found over-the-counter (OTC) medication use not easily predicted from physical symptom experience. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between older adults' use of OTC medications and mood, social, health and demographic variables. Interviews were conducted with 186 adults aged 65 to 99 years. The mood variables of anxiety and depression were measured by the Profile of Mood States. The quality and degree of intimacy in a social relationship was measured by the Emotional Bondedness Scale. OTC medication use was measured by assessing frequency of OTC medication use, the total number of categories of OTC medication used, and the use of OTC medications in response to symptoms. Subjective health appraisal, number of chronic illnesses, number of prescriptive medications, the number of symptoms experienced in the previous month, and physician-office visit frequency were recorded. OTC medication use was predicted by the total number of symptoms experienced, emotional bondedness, age, anxiety, income, cohabitation status, and the frequency of physician-office visits. The total number of symptoms experienced accounted for more variance in OTC medication use than any other variable.

Stress and the schoolteacher

AbstractThis paper examines the manifestations, effects, prevalence and origins of stress in schoolteachers. Evidence suggests that many teachers find their work stressful, that there is a correlation between perceived stress and the experience of psychological and physical symptoms, but that as a group teachers do not have an increased incidence of psychiatric or physical disorders. Possible coping strategies to reduce teacher stress are discussed.

Primary sources of hospital administrator stress

Health care professionals were among the first to sound the warning about the physiological and psychological dangers emanating from job stress. Ironically, they themselves have been the subject of little empirical research in this area. Hospital chief executive officers obviously have no immunity from job-related stress, nor would they appear to be functioning in positions that are free of stressful elements. In fact, quite the opposite appears to be true. Considering the diverse nature of the publics they serve, the myriad of manpower and technology employed, the complex interpersonal relations to be maintained, and the critical importance of the services offered, health care delivery systems and their key personnel appear fertile grounds for stress research. The current body of knowledge in the stress area is far from being complete and in consensus, although it is large and rapidly growing. The dynamics of stress are often such that the generalization of findings across occupations is difficult to make (French and Caplan, 1972). There is a need, therefore, for occupation-specific stress research that might serve as a standard to facilitate study within and across occupations as well as to provide a basis for the formulation of more specific adaptive responses. The objective of this study was to perform such an exploratory and diagnostic function relative to the hospital administrator. Specifically, the goals were to (1) identify stressors perceived by the administrators within their work environments; (2) examine the relationship between these stressors and selected demographics; (3) examine relationships between stressors at work and extra-organizational stressors, and (4) examine associations between the perception of work stressors and the experience of physical and mental symptoms of stress related ill health.