Centre of Academic Primary Care, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen.
Br J Gen Pract. 2011 Jan;61(582):e1-11. doi: 10.3399/bjgp11X548910.
The symptom iceberg describes the phenomenon that most symptoms are managed in the community without people seeking professional health care. The size of the iceberg for many symptoms is unknown, as is their association with personal characteristics, including history of a chronic disease.
To ascertain the size of the symptom iceberg in the UK.
A UK-wide community-based postal survey.
Urban and rural communities across the UK.
A postal survey was sent to an age- and sex-stratified random sample of 2474 adults, aged 18-60 years, drawn from 20 practices around the UK. Questions were aimed at investigating adults' experiences of 25 different symptoms in the previous 2 weeks.
The number of symptoms experienced by one individual in the previous 2 weeks ranged from 0 to 22 (mean 3.66). Of the symptoms examined, the three most common were: feeling tired/run down; headaches; and joint pain. Univariate analysis found symptom prevalence to be significantly associated with a wide range of participant characteristics. However, after adjustment, many of these associations no longer remained significant for a number of the symptoms. Presence of a chronic condition, age, and employment status were the three factors most commonly associated with the 2-week prevalence of symptoms. Reported symptom characteristics (severity, duration, interference, and time off work) varied little by sex or age.
Symptoms in the UK community are common. Symptom prevalence was associated with a number of participant characteristics, although the extent of this association was less than has been reported in previous research. This study provides an important current baseline prevalence of 25 symptoms in the community for those who do, and do not, have a chronic condition.
症状冰山描述了这样一种现象，即大多数症状在社区中得到了管理，而人们并未寻求专业的医疗保健。许多症状的冰山大小未知，其与个人特征（包括慢性病史）的关联也未知。
确定英国症状冰山的大小。
一项在英国开展的基于社区的邮寄调查。
英国各地的城市和农村社区。
向英国 20 个实践基地抽取的年龄和性别分层随机样本中，2474 名年龄在 18-60 岁的成年人邮寄了一份调查问卷。问卷旨在调查成年人在过去 2 周内经历的 25 种不同症状。
在过去 2 周内，一个人经历的症状数量从 0 到 22 种不等（平均值为 3.66）。在所检查的症状中，最常见的三种症状是：感到疲倦/疲惫不堪；头痛；关节疼痛。单变量分析发现，症状的流行与广泛的参与者特征显著相关。然而，在调整后，对于许多症状，许多关联不再具有统计学意义。存在慢性疾病、年龄和就业状况是与症状 2 周流行率最相关的三个因素。报告的症状特征（严重程度、持续时间、干扰和请假时间）在性别或年龄方面差异不大。
英国社区中的症状很常见。症状的流行与许多参与者的特征相关，尽管这种关联的程度小于之前研究报告的程度。本研究为那些有或没有慢性疾病的人提供了当前重要的社区 25 种症状的基线流行率。
