Skip Navigation


Family Practice Advance Access originally published online on October 11, 2006
Family Practice 2006 23(6):609-617; doi:10.1093/fampra/cml047
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
23/6/609    most recent
cml047v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Palmer, K.
Right arrow Articles by Coggon, D
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Palmer, K.
Right arrow Articles by Coggon, D
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author (2006). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Upper limb pain in primary care: health beliefs, somatic distress, consulting and patient satisfaction

KT Palmera, M Calnanb, D Wainwrightb, C O'Neillb, A Winterbottomb, C Watkinsb, J Poolea and D Coggona

a MRC Environmental Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital Southampton SO16 6YD, UK
b MRC Health Services Research Collaboration, Department of Social Medicine Canynge Hall, Bristol BS8 2PR, UK

Correspondence to Dr Keith Palmer, MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre, Southampton General Hospital, Tremona Road, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK; Email: ktp{at}mrc.soton.ac.uk

Background. Beliefs and mental well-being could influence decisions to consult about upper limb pain and satisfaction with care.

Objectives. To describe beliefs about upper limb pain in the community and explore associations of beliefs and mental health with consulting and dissatisfaction.

Methods. Questionnaires were mailed to 4998 randomly chosen working-aged patients from general practices in Avon. We asked about upper limb pain, consulting, beliefs about symptoms, dissatisfaction with care, somatizing tendency (using elements of the Brief Symptom Inventory) and mental well-being (using the Short-Form 36). Associations were explored by logistic regression.

Results. Among 2632 responders, 1271 reported arm pain during the past 12 months, including 389 consulters. A third or more of responders felt that arm pain sufferers should avoid physical activity, that problems would persist beyond 3 months, that a doctor should be seen straightaway and that neglect could lead to permanent harm. Consulters were significantly more likely to agree with these statements than other upper limb pain sufferers. The proportion of consultations attributable to such beliefs was substantial. Dissatisfaction with care was commoner in those with poor mental health: the OR for being dissatisfied (worst versus best third of the distribution) was 3.2 (95% CI 1.2–8.5) for somatizing tendency and 2.4 (95% CI 1.3–4.7) for SF-36 score. Both factors were associated with dissatisfaction about doctors' sympathy, communication and care in examining.

Conclusions. Negative beliefs about upper limb pain are common and associated with consulting. Somatizers and those in poorer mental health tend, subsequently, to feel dissatisfied with care.

Keywords. Consultation, satisfaction, mental health, beliefs, somatization.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.