The Effect of Psychological Distress on Physician Utilization: A Prospective Study

This paper examines the hypothesis that psychological distress is causally related to physician utilization among enrollees in a prepaid group practice. Measures of distress are constructed from questions included in a servey interview, while the utilization data come from medical records. Distress levels were measured prior to the period of utilization studied. The results show a positive relationship between distress and physician utilization, which persists even when a variety of sociodemographic, attitudinal, and health status variables have been controlled. The results are discussed in terms of a perspective that emphasizes social-psychological needs as triggers for physician utilization