[Study of the level of social apprehension in primary care users. Its relationship with anxiety and illness behaviour]. / Estudio del grado de aprensión social en usuarios de atención primaria: su relación con la ansiedad y la conducta de enfermedad.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the level of social apprehension in people who use primary care centres and its relationship with their level of anxiety and illness behaviour. DESIGN: Descriptive, observational, and cross-sectional study. SETTING: The study was carried out at 3 primary care centres: CAP Sant Miquel, CAP Bellavista, and CAP Vallès Oriental. PARTICIPANTS: 330 subjects aged between 18 and 75 years old who used their primary care Centre and participated voluntarily in the study. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: A sociodemographic data questionnaire and the following measurements were used: the Social Apprehension Scale (SAS), the State/Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (IBQ). RESULTS: 31.8% of the subjects showed high levels of social apprehension and 44.5% revealed moderate scores. Statistically meaningful relation was observed between the levels of social apprehension and the levels of trait anxiety (P=.002), state anxiety (P=.008), hypochondriasis (P=.000), affective disturbance (P=.037), disease conviction (P=.001), interpersonal discord (P=.001), and difficulties in social relations (P=.042). CONCLUSIONS: A high percentage of primary care users show high/moderate levels of social apprehension that are directly linked to anxiety and inversely linked to the concept of abnormal illness behaviour related to hypochondriasis and other fears of suffering from health disorders.

Estudio del grado de aprensión social en usuarios de atención primaria: su relación con la ansiedad / Study of the level of social apprehension in primary care users. Its relationship with anxiety and illness behaviour

Objetivo. Analizar el grado de aprensión social de las personas que consultan en su centro de atención primaria (CAP) y la relación con su grado de ansiedad y la conducta ante la enfermedad. Diseño. Estudio descriptivo, observacional y transversal. Emplazamiento. El estudio se efectuó en 3 CAP de Granollers (Barcelona): Sant Miquel, Bellavista y Vallès Oriental. Participantes. Se incluyó a 330 sujetos de 18-75 años que acudieron a su CAP de referencia y participaron voluntariamente en el estudio. Mediciones principales. Cada uno de los participantes cumplimentó un cuestionario de datos sociodemográficos, así como la Escala de Aprensividad Social (EAS), la Escala de Ansiedad Estado-Rasgo (STAI) y el Illness Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ). Resultados. El 31,8% de los participantes mostró puntuaciones altas de aprensión social y el 44,5% medias. Hay una relación significativa directa entre el grado de aprensión social y los grados de ansiedad rasgo (p = 0,002) y ansiedad estado (p = 0,008), e inversa con las subescalas de hipocondría (p = 0,000), alteraciones afectivas (p = 0,037), convicción de enfermedad (p = 0,001), discordia interpersonal (p = 0,001) y dificultades de relación con los demás (p = 0,042). Conclusiones. Un alto porcentaje de usuarios de los CAP estudiados muestra grados de aprensión social medios/altos, los cuales se vinculan de una manera directa con la ansiedad y de una manera inversa con el concepto de conducta anormal de enfermedad relacionado con la hipocondría y otros temores a presentar trastornos de la salud

Objetive. To analyse the level of social apprehension in people who use primary care centres and its relationship with their level of anxiety and illness behaviour. Design. Descriptive, observational, and cross-sectional study. Setting. The study was carried out at 3 primary care centres: CAP Sant Miquel, CAP Bellavista, and CAP Vallès Oriental. Participants. 330 subjects aged between 18 and 75 years old who used their primary care Centre and participated voluntarily in the study. Main measurements. A sociodemographic data questionnaire and the following measurements were used: the Social Apprehension Scale (SAS), the State/Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (IBQ). Results. 31.8% of the subjects showed high levels of social apprehension and 44.5% revealed moderate scores. Statistically meaningful relation was observed between the levels of social apprehension and the levels of trait anxiety (P=.002), state anxiety (P=.008), hypochondriasis (P=.000), affective disturbance (P=.037), disease conviction (P=.001), interpersonal discord (P=.001), and difficulties in social relations (P=.042). Conclusions. A high percentage of primary care users show high/moderate levels of social apprehension that are directly linked to anxiety and inversely linked to the concept of abnormal illness behaviour related to hypochondriasis and other fears of suffering from health disorders