title: Impairment and functioning in a sample of primary care patients with generalized anxiety disorder: results from the primary care anxiety project.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the extent of functional impairment associated with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in a sample of primary care patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants (N = 128) were part of the Primary Care Anxiety Project (PCAP), a study conducted in 15 primary care practices in the northeastern United States. Patients were recruited in primary care practice waiting rooms from July 1997 to May 2001. Participants screening positive for anxiety symptoms received a diagnostic interview and an assessment of health-related functioning (Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey [SF-36]). Effect sizes are reported for comparisons of SF-36 scores between patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of GAD and general population and medical sample norms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Relative to general population normative SF-36 scores, primary care patients with GAD evidenced impaired functioning on both the physical and mental component summary scales. Patients with GAD also evidenced greater impairment in psychosocial functioning than that previously reported for samples of patients with major medical illnesses, including type II diabetes, hypertension, recent myocardial infarction, and congestive heart failure. This finding held true even when GAD patients with comorbid medical illnesses and comorbid Axis I mental disorders were excluded from the comparison.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Primary care patients with GAD experience substantial impairment that cannot be accounted for by concurrent medical illnesses or comorbid Axis I mental disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. Risa_Weisberg@brown.edu
authors.forename: Risa B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Weisberg
authors.forename: Courtney
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beard
authors.forename: Maria E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Pagano
authors.forename: Kristin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Maki
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Culpepper
authors.forename: Martin B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Keller