title: Stress perceptions in community clinic: a pilot survey of patients and physicians.
abstract: This pilot survey of 103 patients and 17 physicians in an urban family medicine clinic gathered information pertinent to the design of a feasible stress intervention for patients bothered by stress, but who did not have a psychiatric diagnosis. Among patients, 45% reported being excessively bothered by stress in the preceding month, with the chief stressors being job (70% reporting), financial worries (58%) and family concerns (50%). Patients reported a variety of problems perceived to be related to stress, such as headaches, insomnia, eating control, and gastrointestinal symptoms. Although about 80% reported using positive coping methods (e.g., talking, exercising, and relaxing), 42% reported using alcohol, and 10% used non-prescribed drugs to cope with stress. Only 37% of patients had sought help for stress from their physician. The wide variety of responses from the physicians reflected a lack of standardized approaches, inadequate training, and a reluctance to engage patients about their stress problems. About 42% of the physicians reported routinely asking patients about stress, and 77% felt that dealing with patient stress was a significant burden on their practice of medicine. Overall, the findings indicate that opportunities are being missed for helping patients to deal with stress constructively, and that a standardized stress self-management program might be one solution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77098, USA. goodrick@bcm.tmc.edu
authors.forename: G Ken
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Goodrick
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kneuper
authors.forename: Jeffrey R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Steinbauer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003151:Community Health Centers; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology; D014504:Urban Health