SYMPTOMS, BLOOD-PRESSURE INFORMATION AND MOOD EFFECTS ON SYMPTOM RECALL

After completion of an illness symptom checklist (PILL) covering the previous three months, 97 normotensives were allocated to either experimental (false pressor feedback, n = 42), or information control (accurate pressor feedback, n = 55). groups. The median reported symptom score divided high from low symptom subjects. All were given standard cuff blood pressure (BP) assessment and were normotensive. However. experimental subjects were misinformed that their BP was raised while information control subjects were told their BP was normal. Subsequently, subjects completed the state anxiety form of the State-Trait Personality Inventory, the PILL, and were asked about their belief of the ascribed BP label (normo/hypertensive) and then any perceived causal relationship between their BP and symptoms. Experimental subjects had significantly higher anxiety scores but no change in symptom recall after pressor feedback, whereas control subjects showed lower anxiety scores and decreases in symptom recall. A post hoc treatment control (no pressor information) group (n = 20) excluded effects of BP labeling on post-BP scores, and a post hoc symptom control group (n = 55) ensured that symptom levels were representative of the normal population. The majority of subjects in both groups rejected any association between BP labels and symptoms. Data are discussed in the light of Leventhal's models of illness representation.