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Psychological Distress Among Patients With Musculoskeletal Illness in General Practice

Received June 6, 1999; revised August 19, 1999; accepted November 19, 1999. From Research Unit and Department of General Practice and Research Unit for Functional Disorders, University of Aarhus, Denmark. Address reprint requests to Dr. Jørgensen, Research Unit and Department of General Practice, Vennelyst Boulevard 6, DK-8000 Aarhus C.; email: ckj{at}alm.au.dk

The authors investigated the importance of psychological distress and somatization among patients with musculoskeletal illness in general practice. The authors used the Hopkins Symptom Check List (SCL-8) and the Whiteley Index to rate 1,720 patients with musculoskeletal illness referred to physiotherapy from general practice. General practitioners (GPs), patients, and physiotherapists often noted stress or psychological distress to be a possible cause of the patient's musculoskeletal illness, but agreement between them was low. If the GP included the patient's own view on psychological distress, the result of the SCL-8 did not add much to the detection of distress. The results emphasize the importance of discussing psychological distress when dealing with patients with musculoskeletal illness.

Key Words: Musculoskeltal Illness

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