Physical health indexes
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The three indexes used to assess the physical health of GPs were the Body Mass Index (BMI), a somatic symptomatology index and a lasting physical health problem index. BMI corresponds to the weight in kilograms divided by the height in meters squared and rounded to 1 decimal place.
The somatic symptomatology index derives from the number of repeated physical symp toms present. This was measured with eight questions referring to (1) sleep disorders, (2) eating problems (loss of appetite, anorexia or bulimia), (3) gastric problems (heartburn, gastro-oesophageal reflux), ( 4) heart palpitations, tachycardia, (5) feeling unwell, dizzi ness, vertigo or glare, (6) breathlessness, breathing difficulties, (7) colitis, chronic intestinal pains, constipation and (8) other physical symptom, with a binary response format. The repeated presence of the symptom was coded 1 and its absence was coded 0. The total score can vary between 0 and 8 and refers to the number of physical symptoms that repeat edly affect the GP (index of somatic symptomatology).
The lasting physical health problems index reflects the presence, the severity and the fre quency of physical impairments and functional limitations during the last six months. This was assessed with three items. First, one question measured the presence of a chronic physical health problem during the last six months, with a binary response format (yes or no). If the answer was “yes” then two supplementary questions assessed the severity and frequency of the induced disabilities experienced, with the same response choice. The total score corresponds to the number of”yes” responses and can vary between 0 (no long-lasting health problem) and 3 (presence of a long-lasting physical health problem with severe and frequent disabilities).