Effects of gender and marital status on somatic symptoms of patients attending a mind/body medicine clinic

To clarify the mechanisms of gender-related mind/body relationships, the au thors analyzed the characteristics of 1,132 outpatients (848 women and 284 men) attending a mind/body medicine clinic. At entry in the program, the pa tients completed the Medical Symptom Checklist, Symptom Checklist-90 revise d (SCL-90R), and Stress Perception Scale. Women reported 9 our of 12 sympto ms (fatigue, insomnia, headache, back pain, joins or limb pain, palpitation s, constipation, nausea, and dizziness) more frequently than the men did. B eing a woman was a predictor of the total number of somatic symptoms endors ed. SCL-90R somatization scores were significantly higher in nonmarried wom en than in married women. Perceived stress ratings of family and health wer e higher in women than in men, despite the lower degree of perceived stress concerning work, Women, especially nonmarried women, were more likely to r eport somatic discomfort. Gender appears to be an important factor in relat ion to the report of somatic symptoms in stress-related conditions.