title: Anxiety and depressive symptoms and medical illness among adults with anxiety disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Anxiety is linked to a number of medical conditions, yet few studies have examined how symptom severity relates to medical comorbidity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The current study assessed associations between severity of anxiety and depression and the presence of medical conditions in adults diagnosed with anxiety disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine-hundred eighty-nine patients diagnosed with panic, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorders reported on the severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms and on diagnoses of 11 medical conditions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms was strongly associated with having more medical conditions over and above control variables, and the association was as strong as that between BMI and disease. Odds of having asthma, heart disease, back problems, ulcer, migraine headache and eyesight difficulties also increased as anxiety and depressive symptom severity increased. Anxiety symptoms were independently associated with ulcer, whereas depressive symptoms were independently associated with heart disease, migraine, and eyesight difficulties.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings add to a growing body of research linking anxiety disorders with physical health problems and indicate that anxiety and depressive symptoms deserve greater attention in their association with disease.
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychology, United States.
authors.forename: Andrea N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Niles
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychology, United States.
authors.forename: Halina J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Dour
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychology, United States; University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, United States.
authors.forename: Annette L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Stanton
authors.affiliation: University of Washington at Harborview Medical Center, Center for Healthcare, United States.
authors.forename: Peter P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Roy-Byrne
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Diego, Department of Psychiatry, United States; University of California, San Diego, Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, United States.
authors.forename: Murray B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.affiliation: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Department of Psychiatry, United States.
authors.forename: Greer
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Cathy D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Sherbourne
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychology, United States.
authors.forename: Raphael D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychology, United States; University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, United States. Electronic address: craske@psych.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Michelle G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Craske
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001416:Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D057566:Self Report; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Health psychology; Medical comorbidity; Psychosomatics