Severity of gambling is associated with physical and emotional health in urban primary care patients.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence of recreational and disordered gambling, and to identify its association with health functioning, in urban primary care patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Data were collected from 574 adults presenting to an urban primary care medical clinic. Participants completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen, Short Form-12 Health Survey, Second Edition and questions assessing demographic characteristics and frequency and intensity of current gambling behaviors.

RESULTS:
Overall, 10.6% of participants met lifetime criteria for pathological gambling, and an additional 5.1% were classified as problem gamblers. Pathological gamblers and problem gamblers reported more health-related concerns than recreational gamblers and nongamblers on indices of physical and emotional functioning. Contrary to prior research, recreational gambling was not associated with better health.

CONCLUSION:
These data suggest that disordered gambling is relatively common in primary care settings, and gambling severity is associated with decreased health functioning.

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Author information

Author/s: Morasco, Benjamin J (BJ); Vom Eigen, Keith A (KA); Petry, Nancy M (NM);

Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030, USA.

Grants: M01-RR06192 (Agency:NCRR NIH HHS) ; P50-AA03510 (Agency:NIAAA NIH HHS) ; P50-DA09241 (Agency:NIDA NIH HHS) ; R01-DA13444 (Agency:NIDA NIH HHS) ; R01-DA14618 (Agency:NIDA NIH HHS) ; R01-MH60417 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS) ; R01-MH60417-SUPP (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: General hospital psychiatry (Gen Hosp Psychiatry), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2006 Mar-Apr; vol 28 (issue 2) : pp 94-100

Dates: Created 2006/03/06; Completed 2006/08/01; Revised 2007/11/14;

PMID: 16516058, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentIn: Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2006 Mar-Apr;28(2):89-91. (PMID: 16516056)

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