Table 1.
Primary care population characteristics and associations between bodily distress syndrome and selected variables
| Participants, n | BDS+, n | % | COR | AORa | 95% CI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 1356 | 230 | 17.0 | |||
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| ||||||
| Sociodemographic status | ||||||
| Age, years | ||||||
| 18–40 | 438 | 60 | 13.7 | 1.0 | 1.0 | Ref |
| 41–65 | 684 | 139 | 20.9 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 1.3 to 3.0 |
| >65 | 234 | 31 | 13.2 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.6 to 3.7 |
| Sex | ||||||
| Male | 482 | 67 | 13.9 | 1.0 | 1.0 | Ref |
| Female | 874 | 163 | 18.6 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.6 to 1.3 |
| Marital status | ||||||
| Cohabiting | 1024 | 167 | 16.3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | Ref |
| Living alone | 330 | 63 | 19.1 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.4 to 1.0 |
| Education, years | ||||||
| >15 | 285 | 40 | 14.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | Ref |
| 10–15 | 681 | 95 | 14.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.6 to 1.5 |
| <10 | 361 | 86 | 23.8 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 1.3 to 3.0 |
| Labour market affiliation | ||||||
| Working | 880 | 115 | 13.1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | Ref |
| Student | 65 | 6 | 9.2 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 to 1.8 |
| Unemployed | 66 | 33 | 50.0 | 6.7 | 5.3 | 2.8 to 9.9 |
| Retirement pension | 277 | 38 | 13.7 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.5 to 2.3 |
| Partial/full disability pension | 66 | 38 | 57.6 | 9.0 | 8.7 | 4.7 to 16.1 |
|
| ||||||
| Self-reported health status | ||||||
| Physical health: SF-12,b PCS <40 | 314 | 161 | 51.3 | 17.6 | 20.5 | 12.9 to 32.4 |
| Mental health: SF-12,b MCS <40 | 265 | 118 | 44.5 | 7.6 | 3.5 | 2.2 to 5.6 |
| Anxiety: SCL-4 ≥5 | 272 | 111 | 40.8 | 5.6 | 2.2 | 1.4 to 3.4 |
| Depression: SCL-6 ≥5 | 318 | 133 | 41.8 | 7.1 | 5.1 | 3.3 to 7.9 |
| Patient-perceived long-term physical illnessc | 278 | 128 | 46.4 | 8.4 | 6.8 | 4.7 to 9.9 |
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| ||||||
| Drug treatment | ||||||
| Opioids | 132 | 52 | 39.4 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 2.2 to 5.7 |
| Proton pump inhibitors | 160 | 50 | 31.3 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 1.3 to 3.3 |
|
| ||||||
| Healthcare use | ||||||
| General practice | 1274 | 226 | 17.7 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 1.4 to 13.0 |
| General practice top 10% attendersd | 123 | 61 | 49.6 | 6.2 | 4.1 | 2.5 to 6.6 |
| Specialised outpatient clinics | 672 | 154 | 23.0 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 1.7 to 3.4 |
| Specialised outpatient clinics top 10% attenderse | 118 | 44 | 37.3 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 1.9 to 5.1 |
| Physiotherapists/chiropractors | 316 | 76 | 24.3 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.2 to 2.4 |
| Physiotherapists and chiropractors top 10% attendersf | 123 | 34 | 27.6 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 1.0 to 2.9 |
| Hospital admissions/inpatient clinics | 179 | 53 | 29.6 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 1.3 to 3.3 |
No variable had more than 2.1% missing data, apart from the MCS and PCS scales, which had 6.9% missing data.
Age, sex, education, marital status, labour market status, depression, and anxiety.
Summary scores estimated using US scoring algorithms.
Item text: ‘During the latest 12 months, have you been ill for a long term (that is, >3 months)?’.
>12 contacts the year preceding the index consultation.
>5 contacts the year preceding the index consultation.
>8 contacts the year preceding the index consultation. AOR = adjusted odds ratio. BDS = bodily distress syndrome. COR = crude odds ratio. MCS = mental component summary. PCS = physical component summary. Ref = reference. SCL = Symptom Checklist. SF-12 = 12-item Short-Form Health Survey.