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. 2003;33(2):133-9.
doi: 10.2190/EYJ9-UVF4-RGP8-WK88.

Anxiety symptoms and healthcare utilization among a sample of outpatients in an internal medicine clinic

Randy A Sansone  1 , C Michael Hendricks, Martin Sellbom, Anne Reddington
Affiliations

Anxiety symptoms and healthcare utilization among a sample of outpatients in an internal medicine clinic

Randy A Sansone et al. Int J Psychiatry Med. 2003.

Abstract

Objective: In this study, we explored the role of anxiety symptoms (i.e., symptoms that would probably not fulfill DSM criteria) in relationship to healthcare utilization.

Method: We surveyed 117 outpatients in an internal medicine clinic regarding four types of anxiety symptoms (i.e., mixed anxiety features, generalized anxiety, obsessive-compulsive personality features, worry), and through a retrospective review of medical records, examined healthcare utilization patterns.

Results: Nearly 28% of participants endorsed "positive" results on at least three of the anxiety-symptom measures. When examined for relationships to healthcare utilization, only obsessive-compulsive personality features demonstrated a significant relationship.

Conclusions: While anxiety symptoms were common in this primary care sample, their impact on healthcare utilization was limited, in that only obsessive-compulsive personality features demonstrated a relationship.

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