Prevalence and Distribution of Psychosomatic Conditions in an Urban Population According to Social Class

Abstract

The findings on rates and socioeconomic distributions of some "psychosomatic" conditions in the "Midtown" study of Rennie and Srole and the Baltimore Commission on Chronic Illness Survey are compared. Marked disparities are described and attributed to the interview method used in the "Midtown" study. The Baltimore study had found the same types of disparities when it compared findings on household interviews, with clinical evaluations on the same individuals, indicating that the interview method is of questionable validity in household surveys of chronic disease.