Brief report: contemplate your symptoms and re-evaluate your health. A study on working adults

Anna Andreasson*, Helena Schiller, Torbjorn Akerstedt, Erik Berntson, Goran Kecklund, Mats Lekander

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    6 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We investigated whether self-ratings of health are affected by a symptom rating. A diary including a one-item self-rating of health ("pre-self-rated health"; 1 = excellent, 7 = very poor), a subsequent 26-item rating of symptoms, and thereafter a second (identical) health rating ("post-self-rated health") was completed by 820 persons 21 times. Self-rated health worsened significantly (p <.0001) after the symptom rating, from 2.72 pre-self-rated health (95% confidence interval: 2.70-2.74) to 2.77 post-self-rated health (95% confidence interval: 2.75-2.79) and more so in persons who reported more symptoms (b = .058, p <.05). The results support the notion that subjective health perception is influenced by attending to symptoms, especially so in persons with a high symptom burden.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1562-1567
    Number of pages6
    JournalJournal of Health Psychology
    Volume24
    Issue number11
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2019

    Keywords

    • interoception
    • psychoneuroimmunology
    • questionnaire methodology
    • self-rated health
    • subjective health perception
    • Sweden

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