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Psychosocial factors and blood pressure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Evelyn L. Goldberg ,
George W. Comstock  and
Carol G. Graves
Evelyn L. Goldberg*
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, School of Hygiene and Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
George W. Comstock
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, School of Hygiene and Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
Carol G. Graves
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, School of Hygiene and Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Evelyn L. Goldberg, Training Center for Public Health Research, Box 2067, Hagerstown, Maryland 21740, USA.
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Synopsis

Blood pressure levels as recorded in a community-wide screening programme were compared with findings in an earlier mental health study for persons who participated in both programmes. Blood pressure was not related to previously ascertained psychosocial characteristics among persons who were not under treatment for hypertension, suggesting that depression, hostility, psychosomatic reactions to stress, or the felt need for help with emotional problems were not important in the pathogenesis of hypertension. Treatment for hypertension, however, was associated with an excess of psychosomatic symptoms, a factor which needs to be taken into account in assessing the benefits of treatment.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , May 1980 , pp. 243 - 255
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

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