ArticleBMJ open2014
How common are symptoms? Evidence from a New Zealand national telephone survey.
Article in BMJ open, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed.
- Is compassion fatigue a self-fulfilling prophecy in health care? A preregistered experimental study of manipulated expectations in doctors and medical trainees.British journal of health psychology · 2025Trial
- Changing mindsets about methotrexate in the rheumatology clinic to reduce side effects and improve adherence: a randomized controlled trial.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2025Trial
- Preventing adverse events of chemotherapy for gastrointestinal cancer by educating patients about the nocebo effect: a randomized-controlled trial.BMC cancer · 2022Trial
- Not so great expectations: The role of price and name information in the nocebo effect.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
- The pathway to diagnosis of early-onset colorectal cancer: exploring diagnostic intervals and their effect on outcomes.Future oncology (London, England) · 2025Article
- Cross-sectional study of health impairment related to post COVID-19 condition among participants of a large population-based cohort in Germany.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Prevalence and severity of fatigue in treated hypothyroidism: results of a UK survey.European thyroid journal · 2025Article
- The Diagnosis and Management of Patients With Findings Consistent With a Breast Implant Associated-Somatic Symptom Disorder (BIA-SSD).Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2025Article
- Predicting the side effects of influenza vaccination.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2025Article
- Drivers and Barriers of Breast Augmentation Surgery: Multinational Insights.Aesthetic surgery journal. Open forum · 2025Article
- Specific sequelae symptoms of COVID-19 of Omicron variant in comparison with non-COVID-19 patients: a retrospective cohort study in Japan.Journal of thoracic disease · 2024Article
- Longevity of Post-Explantation Systemic Symptom Improvement and Potential Etiologies: Findings From the ASERF Systemic Symptoms in Women-Biospecimen Analysis Study: Part 4.Aesthetic surgery journal · 2023Article
- Long COVID in inflammatory rheumatic diseases-what's in a name?The Lancet. Rheumatology · 2023Article
- Symptom patterns and health service use of women in early adulthood: a latent class analysis from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.BMC public health · 2023Article
- The change in pediatric subject symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in China: an increase in cardiac consultation.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2022Article
- Self-reported symptom severity, general health, and impairment in post-acute phases of COVID-19: retrospective cohort study of Swedish public employees.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Brain Injury Screening Tool (BIST): test-retest reliability in a community adult sample.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Design and recruitment of a large-scale cohort study on prevalence, risk factors and impact evaluation of post-COVID-19 condition and its wider long-term social, mental, and physical health impact: The PRIME post-COVID study.Frontiers in public health · 2022Observational
- Which triggers could support timely identification of primary antibody deficiency? A qualitative study using the patient perspective.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the frequency of symptoms in a general population sample over the previous week and the associations between symptom reporting and demographic factors, medical visits and medication use.
designA representative general population sample (n=1000) was recruited using random digit dialling. Participants were asked whether they had experienced any of a list of 46 symptoms in the previous 7 days and if so, whether the symptom was mild, moderate or severe. Demographic data and information on medical visits and medication use were also collected.
resultsSymptom reporting was very common. The median number of symptoms reported by participants in the previous week was 5 with only 10.6% of participants reporting no symptoms. The five most common symptoms in the previous 7 days were: back pain (38%), fatigue (36%), headache (35%), runny or stuffy nose (34%) and joint pain (34%). The five symptoms rated highest in terms of severity were sexual difficulties, vomiting, tremor, suicidal thoughts and sleep problems. Symptom reporting was significantly positively associated with medical visits in the previous year and current medication taking. Women reported a significantly greater number of symptoms. We found no significant association between age or household size and symptom reporting.
conclusionsThis population-based study found that symptoms are more commonly experienced in the general population than previously estimated and are strongly associated with healthcare visits. Appreciation of the high prevalence of symptoms may help normalise the experience of symptom reports among the general population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.