Subjective Sense Of Well-being Research Articles

Acupuncture and Acupressure and Massage Health Outcomes for Patients with Anorexia Nervosa: Findings from a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial and Patient Interviews

This study examined the feasibility of conducting a randomized controlled trial of acupuncture compared with an active control in an inpatient setting, to examine individuals' experience of the interventions, clinical outcomes from the trial, and to integrate data to explain the trial findings. This was a pilot randomized controlled trial with in-depth interviews with trial participants. The study was conducted at a private medical facility in Sydney, Australia. Twenty-six (26) patients with anorexia nervosa who were medically stable were the subjects. Treatment as usual was administered, and the intervention was delivered twice a week for the first 3 weeks, followed by weekly treatment for three weeks. The acupuncture group received acupuncture at the points Hegu (LI4), Zusanli (ST36), Neiguan (PC6), Taichong (LR3), Yanglingquan (GB34), and additional points based on the Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnosis. The control group received acupressure and massage. Acupressure involved consciously and gradually directing pressure to the center of the point being worked on. Clinical outcomes were measured at baseline and at 6 weeks following completion of the intervention. The primary outcome measure was body-mass index (BMI), and secondary outcomes included eating disorder psychopathology, anxiety, and depression. A semistructured interview was conducted asking questions about their interaction with the practitioner, what happened, how they felt, whether it made them feel differently, and what they attributed any change to. We found timely recruitment with the population recruited within a 5-month period. Study dropouts were 23% and treatment compliance was moderate, but acceptable for this challenging population. Participants in the control group demonstrated reduced eating concerns. Participants described both interventions positively, and experienced a sense of calmness and relaxation. Acupuncture and acupressure and massage may improve the patient's subjective sense of wellbeing, and further research is needed.

Psychological and Other Mechanisms for End-of-Day Soft Lens Symptoms

To examine psychological factors and other mechanisms for soft contact lens (CL)-related end-of-day symptoms of dryness and associated dropping out from lens wear. A PubMed search for articles related to dryness, comfort, and discomfort in CLs was conducted. Comparisons with rigid lens adaptation have been used to construct and examine a hypothesis that high levels of initial soft lens comfort increase expectations of an absence of lens awareness that result in end-of-day symptoms being more difficult to tolerate. Relevant reports were referenced in this review having been located using the 143 listed by PubMed. Contact lens-induced corneal hypoalgesia and the association between the influence on blink function of end-of-day general and ocular fatigue, lens front surface degradation, a dysfunctional pre-lens tear layer, and symptoms of dryness suggest that lid wiper friction has a prime role in determining the level of lens awareness. Rather than dry eye symptoms, end-of-day discomfort in CL wearers might be more appropriately described as dry lens symptoms. Apart from tear function, lens condition, compliance with lens care instructions, and symptom strength, lens awareness may also be determined by psychological factors such as motivation, high expectations for comfort, and sense of subjective well-being. For example, high levels of comfort experienced on lens insertion may increase expectations of the level of comfort to be experienced at the end of the day. In addition, patient management seems to require a thorough assessment of lens comfort, which may indicate the need to review a patient's understanding of the relation between compliance and other factors, which could influence CL performance negatively. For example, increased use of digital devices, especially in air conditioning, and any associated reduced blink efficiency seem likely to be important contributors to dry lens symptoms.

Study on the Influence of Social Support, Subjective Sense of Well-being on the self-consistency and Congruence of Rural Junior Middle School Students

Study on the Influence of Social Support, Subjective Sense of Well-being on the self-consistency and Congruence of Rural Junior Middle School Students

Effect of nursing intervention on enhancement of subjective sense of well-being in female patients with urinary incontinence

Objective To explore the effect of nursing intervention on enhancement of subjective sense of wellbeing in female patients with urinary incontinence Methods A total of 140 patients were divided into control and study groups.The study group received nursing intervention including health education,psychological intervention,behavioral intervention,family and social support.The effect was assessed six months after intervention.Results Both groups had a higher score in health status.After intervention,subjective sense of well-being was markedly lower in the control group than in the study group ( P ＞ 0.05 ).Conclusions Nursing intervention can improve sense of subjective well-being in female patients with urinary incontinence. Key words: Nursing intervention; Urinary incontinence; Subjective sense of well-being

Does Being Well-Off Make Us Happier? Problems of Measurement

The article uses General Social Survey data (GSS) collected by Statistics Canada from 1986 to 2005 and experience sampling data (ESM) collected in 1985 and 2003 at the University of Waterloo to examine relationships between economic growth, household income, and subjective sense of well-being. The article puts to a test two propositions made by Easterlin (Nations and households in economic growth: Essays in Honor of Moses Abramovitz. Academic Press, New York, NY,1974), namely that personal and household incomes correlate positively with subjective well-being, but this does not apply to the relationship between subjective well-being and societal economic growth. Analyses of GSS data reported in this article support Easterlin’s findings. They show that higher household incomes correlate positively with respondents’ retrospective assessments of life satisfaction, but economic growth has not been accompanied by a corresponding rise of subjective well-being. Analyses of ESM data suggest that when relationships between household income and subjective well-being are measured by “experiential” measures (Csikszentmihalyi and Larson in J Nerv Ment Dis 175: 526–537, 1987), these relationships are not statistically significant and subjective valuations of well-being taper off at the top of the income pyramid.

Using Quantitative Research to Measure Recovery Outcomes and Correlates.

Recovery has become an increasingly significant concept within mental health literature. Despite this, few studies have investigated the measurement of recovery and its correlates using quantitative methods. The aim of the current study was to measure recovery in people with chronic psychiatric disabilities using a quantitative tool and to investigate what factors were correlated to recovery outcomes. It was hypothesised that measures that investigated the individual's subjective sense of well-being would have a stronger correlation to recovery than more traditional clinician-rated scales. Participants were 63 people with a chronic psychiatric disability. They were recruited as a convenience sample from community mental health rehabilitation teams in three locations. Using a cross-sectional design, participants completed measures of psychological well-being (Psychological Well-being Scale (PWB); hope (Adult State Hope Scale) and recovery (Recovery Assessment Scale (RAS). Health professionals rated participants' psychosocial functioning using the Multnomah Community Ability Scale (MCAS-R). Analyses found that there was no significant correlation between clinician-rated psychosocial functioning scores and participant-rated recovery outcomes. Psychological well-being variables rated by the participants themselves were found to significantly correlate with recovery outcomes. The variables hope, environmental mastery and relationships with others were found to emerge as independent predictors of recovery scores. Results underscore the premise that recovery is a distinct construct that is unique to the individual and cannot be fully captured by objective measures of functioning. Implications for practice suggest that services for people with chronic psychiatric disability should utilise recovery focused tools in patient assessment and treatment in order for a comprehensive assessment to be achieved. Recovery interventions should also focus on the individual's hope, mastery and relationships with others in order to promote recovery.

Free radical–scavenging activity of sulfurous water investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy

ABSTRACTThe aim of the study was to explore the antiradical activity of sulfurous water, used for inhalatory therapy (characterized by the presence of sulfhydryl [HS]) by means of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The effects of sulfurous water corresponding to the concentrations from 16 down to 0.25 μg/mL of HS were tested by means of Fenton reaction (HO•), KO2–crown ether system (O2−•), and EPR of Tempol and of Fremy's salt radical. All of these assays were made using natural sulfurous water or degassed sulfurous water (no detectable HS) or reconstituted sulfurous water (degassed plus NaHS). The free radicals were significantly inhibited by natural water with HS concentrations ranging from 16 to 1 μg/mL for HO•, Tempol, and Fremy's salt, and O2−• was significantly inhibited from 16 and 2 μg/mL. The tests of degassed water did not reveal any significant differences from baseline values. The tests of reconstituted water led to significant results overlapping those obtained using natural water, thus confirming the importance of the presence of HS group (reductive activity). The positive effects of the activity of sulfurous thermal water is partially based on the patients’ subjective sense of well-being and partially on symptomatic (or general) clinical improvements that are sometimes difficult to quantify. These findings indicate that, in addition to their known mucolytic activity and trophic effects on respiratory mucosa, the HS groups in sulfurous water also have antioxidant activity that contributes to the water's therapeutic effects on upper and lower airway inflammatory diseases.

The Relation between Insight and Quality Of Life among Schizophrenic Patients.

There has been considerable growth in literature on insight in schizophrenia and its impact on adherence, symptoms and functioning. Between 50%- 80% of patients with schizophrenia are partially or totally lacking insight into the presence of their mental illness. Lack of insight is the most prevalent symptom in schizophrenic disorders, it also occurs more frequently in schizophrenia than in other psychotic disorders. The study of quality of life (QOL) and the focus on patients' subjective sense of well-being is a fairly new phenomenon that has attracted professional attention only within the past two decades. So, issues of life quality became a key when cure is impossible. The present study determines the relation between insight and quality of life among schizophrenic patients. This study followed the descriptive design. It was conducted at the Psychiatric Department of Tanta University Hospital and Tanta Mental Hospital. The subjects of the study consisted of sixty schizophrenic patients. Three tools were used: 1- A structured interview questionnaire was applied for collection of data related to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the study subjects, 2- A Scale to assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder (SUMD ) and 3- Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale ( SOLS ).The main results revealed that general insight into mental disorder was negatively related to quality of life as a whole. Insight into mental disorder was negatively related to quality of life in the domains of psycho-social functioning and emotional well-being. But, no relation was found between insight into mental illness and quality of life in the domains of motivation and energy and the domain of medication and side effects. This study recommended that the future interventions and research could be directed to help persons with schizophrenia overcome their negative beliefs and find newer and more adaptive ways to think of themselves and their futures, thus allowing for the acceptance of mental illness to have fewer devastating effects.

Toward Literacy-Neutral Spinal Cord Injury Information and Training

Minorities are underserved for health services in the United States, and persons from minority backgrounds are disproportionately represented among individuals suffering from low health literacy, a situation that creates a further barrier to understanding health needs and seeking health services. These barriers persist among persons with SCI, with racial and ethnic differences impacting both health outcomes and subjective sense of well-being. Providing health information resources on-line is a well-accepted diffusion strategy in the 21st century, but most health information available on-line is written at a level of complexity that is not useful to or usable by individuals with lower levels of literacy. On-line materials have the potential to resolve some of the difficulties persons with low literacy experience in accessing health information by supplementing text with video demonstrations and audio explanations. YouTube, the popular, open-access, video-sharing social media Web site, provides an opportuni...

Effects of sulphurous water on human neutrophil elastase release

Molecules bearing a sulphide (HS) group, such as glutathione, play a fundamental role in the defensive system of human airways, as shown by the fact that the lining fluid covering the epithelia of the respiratory tract contains very high concentrations of glutathione: the lungs and nose, respectively, contain about 140 and 40 times the concentrations found in plasma. Consequently, various low-weight soluble molecules bearing an HS group (including N-acetylcysteine, mesna and thiopronine, and prodrugs such as stepronine and erdosteine) have been used for therapeutic purposes. HS groups can also be therapeutically administered by means of sulphurous thermal water containing HS groups. The aim of this study was to investigate the direct activity of such water on the release of elastase by activated human neutrophils. After the neutrophils were incubated with increasing amounts of sulphurous water or the HS/hydrogen sulphide donor sodium hydrosulphide (NaHS), elastase release was initiated by N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine and measured by means of spectrofluorimetry using methylsuccinylalanylprolylvalyl-methylcoumarin amide as the fluorogenic substrate. To verify the presence of direct action on elastase we determined the diameter of the area of elastinolysis on elastine-agarose gel plates. The sulphurous water significantly inhibited elastase release at HS concentrations ranging from 4.5 to 18 μg/ml, as assayed using the iodometric method; in the case of NaHS, the inhibition was significant at HS concentrations ranging from 2.2 to 18 μg/ml. The concentration-effect regression lines of both were parallel and neither showed any direct elastolytic activity. Previous claims concerning the activity of sulphurous water have been based on the patients' subjective sense of wellbeing and on symptomatic (or general) clinical improvements that are not easy to define or quantify exactly. Our findings indicate that, in addition to its known mucolytic and antioxidant activity, sulphurous water also has an anti-elastase activity that may help to control the inflammatory processes of upper and lower airway diseases.

The Pay-Offs to Sociability

Previous research addressing the association between leisure and happiness has given rise to the hypothesis that informal social activities might contribute more to happiness than solitary activities. In the current study, we tested how the two types of leisure—social and solitary—contribute to a person’s subjective sense of well-being. For the empirical estimate, we used four consecutive quarters of data collected from 533 people over the age of 16, from 13 Tsimane’ hunter-farmer villages in the Bolivian Amazon. Results suggest that only social, not solitary, leisure has a positive and statistically significant association with subjective well-being. The association between solitary leisure and subjective well-being was negligible or negative. Future research should focus on emic definitions of social and solitary time, for solitary time might not always be equivalent to leisure and productive group activities might substitute for social leisure.

Evaluating public policy responses to the economic burden of population ageing with application to Australia

This paper reviews the issues in evaluating public policy interventions that are designed to address the economic burden of population ageing. It then briefly reviews the main public policy options with application to Australia. The economic burden of ageing is defined as the burden on national economic well-being over time and the extent to which this burden is shared between the public and private sectors. A key policy issue is the extent to which the economic burden of ageing should be spread out over present and future generations. This depends on how we value the economic well-being of future generations relative to our own, future projections of economic growth, and the rate at which our subjective sense of well-being improves with our living standards. The paper discusses policies to boost the labour force participation rates of older workers, measures to boost fertility and immigration policy. Also discussed are several policies to shift the burden of ageing from the public to private sectors: the establishment of government financial funds such as the Future Fund, superannuation policy, and health and aged care policy.

Antioxidant Effect of Sulphurous Thermal Water on Human Neutrophil Bursts: Chemiluminescence Evaluation

Background: The activities of the HS (sulfhydryl or thiolic) group in the cysteine of glutathione or various low-weight soluble molecules (thiolic drugs), such as N-acethylcysteine, mesna, thiopronine and dithiotreitol or stepronine and erdosteine (prodrugs), include its antioxidant activity in the airways during the release of reactive oxygen or nitrogen species (ROS, RNS) by polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) activated in response to exogenous or endogenous stimuli. Objective: In addition to being administered by means of thiolic molecules, the HS group can also be given by means of the inhalation of sulphurous thermal water. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of sulphurous thermal water on the release of ROS and RNS during the bursts of human PMNs. Methods: The luminol-amplified chemiluminescence methodology was used to investigate the ROS and RNS released by PMNs stimulated with N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate, before and after incubation with sulphurous water. Effects on cell-free systems were also investigated. Results: The water significantly reduced the luminol-amplified chemiluminescence of N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine- andphorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate-activated PMNs on average from 0.94 to 15.5 µg/ml of HS, even after the addition of L-arginine, a nitric oxide (NO) donor. Similar findings have also been obtained in a cell-free system, thus confirming the importance of the presence of the HS group (reductive activity). Conclusions: The positive effects of the activity of sulphurous thermal waters has been partially based on the patients’ subjective sense of wellbeing and partially on not always easy to quantify symptomatic (or general) clinical improvements. Our findings indicate that, in addition to their known mucolytic activity and trophic effects on respiratory mucosa, the HS groups present in the sulphurous thermal water of this spring also have antioxidant activity that contributes to the therapeutic effects of the water in upper and lower airway inflammatory diseases.

Schools, Poverty, and the Achievement Gap

LAST June, representatives from more than 20 countries and several international agencies came together under the midnight sun in Trondheim, Norway, to discuss the challenge of creating greater in the outcomes of This meeting, sponsored by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Norwegian Ministry of Education, was the culmination of several years of work on the theme of equity in education. The OECD will shortly issue a report titled No More Failres, replete with analysis and recommendations on how to improve in educational outcomes. The concern for raising the bar and closing the in educational outcomes is now widespread around the world. Kappan readers will be familiar with the debate on the achievement gap, especially in the context of No Child Left Behind. In Europe, the results of (Programme for International Student Assessment--www.pisa.oecd.org) brought the issue into stark relief as well. PISA, a large, carefully designed study now involving more than 40 countries, tests 15-year-olds in reading, science, and mathematics. There have been two rounds of results so far, in 2000 and 2003, with a third due to be released this December. The findings of have been striking and consistent. Some countries that thought they were doing well educationally found that they had not only poor overall results but also very large gaps between their highest- and lowest-achieving students. In Germany, the phrase PISA Schock has come into the language as a sign of how serious the problem is. In contrast, some other countries, such as Finland, Korea, and--yes--Canada, showed very high overall results and much smaller gaps in their achievement distribution. The reality, in and in every other assessment of student outcomes, is that socioeconomic status remains the most powerful single influence on students' educational and other life outcomes. This is true in Finland and Canada as well as in the U.S. and everywhere else. Where you are born and grow up matters enormously to what you are able to be and do. A recent study in my home town of Winnipeg, using a database of all children born in the city in 1984, showed that, whereas 89% of all students writing the grade-12 language exam passed, only 12% of students whose families had received social assistance in the previous two years passed the exam.1 Indeed, a large proportion of this group was either a year or more behind or out of school entirely. Although the achievement gap in Canada is smaller than in the United States, it is far from trivial. UNICEF's Innocenti Research Centre recently released a report with the fascinating title of Child Poverty in Perspective: An Overview of Child Well-Being in Rich Countries (www.unicef-irc.org/publications). Using a rich array of data, it compares the situation of children in Canada, the U.S., the United Kingdom, and 18 other European countries on six dimensions, including material well-being, health and safety, education, peer and family relationships, behaviors and risks, and young people's subjective sense of well-being. No country ranks high on all six dimensions. The Netherlands gets the best overall score. Canada's average ranking across the six areas is 12th, while the U.S. and the U.K. are at the bottom. And the kicker is that the report concludes: Variation in government policy appears to account for most of the variation in child poverty levels between OECD countries. No OECD country devoting 10% or more of GDP to social transfers has a child poverty rate higher than 10%. No country devoting less than 5% of GDP to social transfers has a child poverty rate of less than 15%. (2) About 15% of Canadian children live in poverty, defined as living in a household with income less than 50% of the national median. What makes the Canadian situation galling is that in 1989 the Parliament of Canada passed a unanimous motion to end child poverty in the country by the year 2000. …

Gender, Estrogen, and Schizophrenia

Most of the evidence to support an association between estrogen and psychosis is indirect and comes from clinical studies of gender differences in schizophrenia and from studies of fluctuating levels of psychopathology in different phases of the menstrual cycle. Our data, as well as those of other investigators, suggest a significantly later age at onset of schizophrenia in women than in men. There is somewhat more direct evidence from animal studies indicating that estrogen modulates dopamine systems in a manner similar to neuroleptics, although there are some inconsistencies in the literature. Few studies have examined the effects of estrogen administration in conjunction with neuroleptics on psychotic symptoms. We present a case report of a postmenopausal woman with schizophrenia who had an improvement in positive symptoms with estrogen replacement therapy. Long-term double-blind treatment studies are needed to investigate the effects of estrogen on psychotic symptoms in women with schizophrenia.

DOES CONTRACEPTION BENEFIT WOMEN? STRUCTURE, AGENCY, AND WELL-BEING IN RURAL MEXICO

The authors of this paper examine Amartya Sen's contributions to the concept of human well-being from a gender perspective and argue that this concept is particularly useful for explaining women's decisions on contraceptive use. The study draws on data collected in six rural communities of Chiapas, Mexico. It emphasizes the ways in which public discourse articulates the apparent benefits of having small families; the context of the household and community in which rural women make reproductive decisions; and the impact of family planning programs on women's sense of subjective well-being. In particular, it questions the assumption that reduced fertility through contraception necessarily enhances women's well-being and points to the importance that women attach to being a party to reproductive decisions. The authors also explore the links between women's assessment of these decisions and of paid work, and their actual education levels and real possibilities of employment.

The spatial integration of adolescent identity: its relation to age, education, and subjective well-being.

A sense of being the same person through time and social contexts is a central characteristic of identity formation. The spatial integration of identity was investigated in three groups of high school students differing in age and/or educational level. The 294 adolescents chose and ranked personally revealing identity contexts, described their general and context-specific identities, and indicated their subjective sense of well-being. With increasing age and educational level adolescents chose an increasing number of identity contexts. Context-specific identities were found on average to be closely interwoven. There was a positive linear relationship between spatial integration and subjective well-being. The conclusion is that age and education promote the extension of adolescents' identity horizons, provided that their spatial integration is solid enough to absorb the downward effect of a new identity context. A comparison between spatial integration and two measures of exploration and commitment showed that spatial integration is a relatively powerful measure of adolescent identity.

Evaluation der Therapie von Patienten mit Rektumkarzinom - Ziele des Heilens (Outcomes) und Implementierung des Konzepts Lebensqualität in die medizinische Gesamtversorgung -

Quality of life (QL) assessment by means of standardised scales allows a valid representation of an individual's subjective sense of well-being in three dimensions: somatic (intensity and frequency of symptoms), psychological (anxiety, depression) and social (family life, employment, sexuality). The question, however, whether routine measurement, documentation and analysis of QL-data could lead to an improvement of patient care is still unsolved. Studies with a clearly defined practical goal in collaboration with physicians and patients should help to resolve this issue. The introduction of the QL concept into everyday clinical practice first requires that this tool is understandable and valuable to the clinician. In this respect, we propose to integrate the factor QL into a broader outcome-concept in parallel to the classical quality indicators (outcome-criteria), to demonstrate individual patient's clinical and therapeutical course in the form of QL-profiles and to correlate the patient's actual clinical and psychosocial situation with the results of QL measurement. We illustrate the feasibility of a stepwise concept of implementation of the QL concept by demonstrating interim results of our field trial on regional management and care of patients with rectal carcinoma in the county of Marburg-Biedenkopf.

Prevalence and impact of upper gastrointestinal symptoms in the Canadian population: findings from the DIGEST study

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence and impact of upper gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in the general population are poorly defined. Most data are obtained from selected samples derived from patients presenting to health care providers. As part of a larger international effort (The DIGEST study), we examined the prevalence of upper GI symptoms among the general Canadian population, as well as their psychosocial and economic impact. METHODS: A sample of 1036 adults was studied, its demographic characteristics closely matching those of the general Canadian population. A validated detailed questionnaire measured the prevalence, severity, and frequency of 15 digestive symptoms, as well as demographic information, use of medication and medical resources, other illnesses, and dietary habits. The Psychological General Well-Being Index, a self-administered questionnaire, assessed the individual’s subjective sense of well-being. RESULTS: Of the sample population, 28.6% reported substantial symptoms in the preceding 3 months, the majority (111/153 subjects) for >1 yr; 34.1% reported having never experienced significant GI symptoms.The most bothersome symptoms were primarily related to dysmotility-like symptoms in 54.9% of those with chronic symptoms, ulcer-like symptoms in 12.4%, and related to heartburn in 42.5%. Chronic upper GI symptoms were associated with a highly significant ( p < 0.001) decrease in all facets of the Psychological General Well Being Index. CONCLUSIONS: Upper GI symptoms are very prevalent in the general Canadian population and substantially affect the quality-of-life and psychological well-being of those affected. Dysmotility-like symptoms, rather than heartburn, are the most common chronic upper gastrointestinal symptoms in the general population.

Prevalence and impact of upper gastrointestinal symptoms in the Canadian population: findings from the DIGEST study. Domestic/International Gastroenterology Surveillance Study.

The prevalence and impact of upper gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in the general population are poorly defined. Most data are obtained from selected samples derived from patients presenting to health care providers. As part of a larger international effort (The DIGEST study), we examined the prevalence of upper GI symptoms among the general Canadian population, as well as their psychosocial and economic impact. A sample of 1036 adults was studied, its demographic characteristics closely matching those of the general Canadian population. A validated detailed questionnaire measured the prevalence, severity, and frequency of 15 digestive symptoms, as well as demographic information, use of medication and medical resources, other illnesses, and dietary habits. The Psychological General Well-Being Index, a self-administered questionnaire, assessed the individual's subjective sense of well-being. Of the sample population, 28.6% reported substantial symptoms in the preceding 3 months, the majority (111/153 subjects) for >1 yr; 34.1% reported having never experienced significant GI symptoms. The most bothersome symptoms were primarily related to dysmotility-like symptoms in 54.9% of those with chronic symptoms, ulcer-like symptoms in 12.4%, and related to heartburn in 42.5%. Chronic upper GI symptoms were associated with a highly significant (p < 0.001) decrease in all facets of the Psychological General Well Being Index. Upper GI symptoms are very prevalent in the general Canadian population and substantially affect the quality-of-life and psychological well-being of those affected. Dysmotility-like symptoms, rather than heartburn, are the most common chronic upper gastrointestinal symptoms in the general population.