Anxiety in ambulatory emergency patients

The anxiety level of ambulatory emergency department patients without a diagnosis of a physical illness was studied. These patients were compared to a group with a diagnosis of nontraumatic surgical disease. Both the study group and the comparison group were found to have elevated anxiety levels. In addition, those with nonphysical illness had elevated levels of covert anxiety when compared to their overt levels (p less than .03) and when contrasted with the comparison group's covert levels ( p less than .03). In the treatment of all a patient's problems the psychosomatic illnesses evidenced by raised covert anxiety levels may require intensive treatment both within and without the emergency department.