The DOI matches its Crossref record; 16 of the 16 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The Paradox of Health
Abstract
Although the collective health of the nation has improved dramatically in the past 30 years, surveys reveal declining satisfaction with personal health during the same period. Increasingly, respondents report greater numbers of disturbing somatic symptoms, more disability, and more feelings of general illness. Four factors contribute to the discrepancy between the objective and subjective states of health. First, advances in medical care have lowered the mortality rate of acute infectious diseases, resulting in a comparatively increased prevalence of chronic and degenerative disorders. Second, society's heightened consciousness of health has led to greater self-scrutiny and an amplified awareness of bodily symptoms and feelings of illness. Third, the widespread commercialization of health and the increasing focus on health issues in the media have created a climate of apprehension, insecurity, and alarm about disease. Finally, the progressive medicalization of daily life has brought unrealistic expectations of cure that make untreatable infirmities and unavoidable ailments seem even worse. Physicians should become more aware of these paradoxical consequences of medical progress so that they do not inadvertently contribute to a rising public dissatisfaction with medicine and medical care.
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Cites
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The Psychology of Physical Symptoms
Pennebaker, J. W. (1982) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-8196-9 · Cited by 1,758
Medical Nemesis: The Expropriation of Health
Krause, E. A., & Illich, I. (1977) · Technology and Culture · doi:10.2307/3103618 · Cited by 1,003
The New Medical-Industrial Complex
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Gruenberg, E. M. (1977) · The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly. Health and Society · doi:10.2307/3349592 · Cited by 626
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Miller, L. C., Murphy, R., & Buss, A. H. (1981) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.41.2.397 · Cited by 522
Longer Life but Worsening Health? Trends in Health and Mortality of Middle-Aged and Older Persons
Verbrugge, L. M. (1984) · The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly. Health and Society · doi:10.2307/3349861 · Cited by 519
GOLDMAN, L., & COOK, E. F. (1984) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-101-6-825 · Cited by 381
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Cited by
Drossman, D. A., Li, Z., Andruzzi, E., Temple, R. D., Talley, N. J., Grant Thompson, W., Whitehead, W. E., Janssens, J., Funch-Jensen, P., Corazziari, E., et al. (1993) · Digestive Diseases and Sciences · doi:10.1007/bf01303162 · Cited by 2,198
Communication and Uncertainty Management
Brashers, D. E. (2001) · Journal of Communication · doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2001.tb02892.x · Cited by 1,407
Physicians and Patient Spirituality: Professional Boundaries, Competency, and Ethics
Post, S. G., Puchalski, C. M., & Larson, D. B. (2000) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-132-7-200004040-00010 · Cited by 417
The Compression of Morbidity: Near or Far?
Fries, J. F. (1989) · The Milbank Quarterly · doi:10.2307/3350138 · Cited by 328
Health perceptions of primary care patients and the influence on health care utilization
Connelly, J. E., Philbrick, J. T., Smith, G. R., Kaiser, D. L., & Wymer, A. (1989) · Medical Care · doi:10.1097/00005650-198903001-00009 · Cited by 188
Metadata
- Authors
- Barsky, A. J.
- Venue
- New England Journal of Medicine
- Publisher
- Massachusetts Medical Society
- Published
- 1988-02-18
- Volume
- 318
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 414-418
- ISSN
- 0028-4793 (ISSN-L)
- 1533-4406
- OpenAlex
- W1974905310
- Cited by
- 301
- References
- 16
- FWCI
- 14.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
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