Life events and neurocirculatory asthenia. A controlled study

Sonino N, Fava GA, Boscaro M, Fallo F (University of Padova, Padova, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; and State University of New York at Buffalo, NY USA). Life events and neurocirculatory asthenia. A controlled study. J Intern Med 1998; 244 : 523–8.
Objectives : The purpose of this study was to assess the occurrence of stressful life events in the year before the onset of neurocirculatory asthenia.
Design : Case-control retrospective study.
Setting : A university medical outpatient clinic.
Subjects : A consecutive series of 50 patients with neurocirculatory asthenia and a control group of 50 healthy subjects, matched for sociodemographic variables, were studied.
Main outcome measures : Paykel's Interview for Recent Life Events (a semistructured research interview covering 64 life events) was administered to patients and controls.
Results : Patients with neurocirculatory asthenia reported significantly more stressful life events than the control group ( P  < 0.05) and had significantly more of the following: exits ( P  < 0.05), undesirable ( P  < 0.05) and uncontrolled ( P  < 0.01) events. More events that had an objective negative impact ( P  < 0.001) and more independent events ( P  = 0.07) were also reported. Ratings of impact and independence were carried out by a blind rater who was unaware whether the event had occurred in patients or controls.
Conclusions : The results are suggestive of a strong relationship between stressful life events and neurocirculatory asthenia. This is in agreement with a multifactorial model of pathogenesis in neurocirculatory asthenia and with current understanding of the extensive links of behavioral responses to stress with neurophysiological and biochemical processes.