Using various methods of observation, the psychological status of 211 patients of both sexes was assessed after the surgery or treatment justifying their hospitalization. Intercorrelations of scores on 40 variables obtained to describe the state of the patients were submitted to a principal components analysis. The latter yielded a factor of maladjustment to hospitalization associated with various psychosociological antecedents of the patients and a short-term unfavorable development of their physical health. This dimension seems to correspond not just with personal characteristics but to involve the interaction of medical staff members and patients in a manner detrimental to patients' recovery.
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