Psycho-maintenance in asthma: hospitalization rates and financial impact

Certain patient styles perpetuate chronic physical illness, defeat medical treatment, and increase the utilization of medical services. Two such extreme styles among asthmatic patients are indexed by the MMPI panic-fear scale, reflecting either (a) helpless dependency and anxiety, or (b) excessive inappropriate independence. The present findings indicate that both of these patient styles are related to excessively high hospitalization rates during the two 1-year periods after discharge from intensive treatment, even among patient groups having asthma of similar objective severity. The discussion centres upon the increased demand for medical services, and the need for early identification of patients whose personal styles contribute to the maintenance of illness.