The relationship of modern health worries to depression, symptom reporting and quality of life in a general population survey.

OBJECTIVE Worries about the risk to personal health from new technology and features of modern life have been shown to be associated with the use of health care services, health behaviours, mood and reporting of physical symptoms. We examined the frequency and nature of these concerns in a large national sample and the relationship of modern health worries to demographic factors, depression, symptom reporting and health-related quality of life. METHODS A representative sample of the German population (n=2485) completed a face-to-face survey which included demographic information, the Modern Health Worries Scale, as well as measures of depression, symptom reporting, and health-related quality of life. RESULTS The majority of the population reports high or extremely high concerns about aspects of modernity affecting their personal health, while only six percent reported no concerns at all. Higher levels of modern health worries were found in females but were not associated with income or age. Higher levels of modern health worries were significantly associated with depression, symptom reporting and lower health-related quality of life. We found the relationship between modern health worries and both symptom reporting and health-related quality of life was only partially explained by depression for most outcome variables, while the association between MHW and physical component (SF-12) was fully mediated by depression. CONCLUSIONS Concerns about aspects of modernity affecting health are common in a general population sample and associated with depression, symptom reporting and quality of life.