Psychosomatic Medicine 15:463-476 (1953)
© 1953 American Psychosomatic Society

Characteristics of Psychoneurotic Patients and Their Families as Revealed in a General Morbidity Study

¹ Milbank Memorial, Fund New York 5, New York
² Milbank Memorial Fund, New York 5, New York

This report presents an analysis of the characteristics of psychoneurotics and their families as revealed in the morbidity study made in the Eastern Health District of Baltimore.

The illness experience of persons classed as psychoneurotic indicated that they form a special group. The rate of acute illness suffered by such persons was excessive in all illness categories--that is, respiratory illness, accidental injuries, and all other acute illness. The excess was particularly marked in accidental injuries.

From the epidemiological point of view, persons who were classed as psychoneurotic appear to be especially susceptible to the development of certain conditions, such as hypertensive vascular disease, at relatively young ages.

The 90 families of the psychoneurotic persons were compared with the total 828 families in each of which there was one or more family members affected by some form of chronic illness.

The comparison revealed no important differences between the two groups of families with respect to social environmental factors such as moving, crowding, income, home ownership, and education of persons 20 years of age and older.

It was found, however, that persons with chronic illness were highly concentrated in the 90 families where the index case was one of psychoneurosis. In these families 27 per cent of the other family members had a chronic condition, compared with only 15 per cent in the total 828 families. This difference was found to be highly significant.

Thus, persons classed as psychoneurotic and their families were outstanding because of their illness experience.