Measuring Impact of Sickness in Patients with Nonspecific Abdominal Complaints in a Dutch Family Practice Setting

The Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) was applied in a Dutch primary care population who had nonspecific abdominal complaints. The study was conducted to test applicability and feasibility of the SIP as an outcome measurement in primary care research on patients with minor illness. The study was performed in five family practice settings. Included in the study were all patients aged 18 to 75 years who visited their family doctor during a 7 week period with nonspecific abdominal complaints. Feasibility was tested by interviewing patients at their homes within a time limit of 24 hours after the consultation with their family doctor. To test applicability, dysfunction in patients with nonspecific abdominal complaints was compared with dysfunction in an open population and in a population with low back pain. Results revealed that highly prevalent dysfunctional behavior in patients with nonspecific abdominal complaints differed from highly prevalent dysfunction in a reference group of patients with low back pain and in an open population. The SIP data confirmed the characteristics of nonspecific abdominal complaints as multiconditional illness. The data obtained were recognizably related to the nature of nonspecific abdominal complaints, emphasizing the applicability of the SIP.