Authors : S.O. Olatunji , U.C. Nwabuoku and T.W. Iyiola
Abstract: This study was designed primarily to examine the psychological differences between healthy persons and ambulatory. This study comprises 4 hypotheses differently tested. The hypotheses are: that the degree of anxiety in healthy persons is significantly different from ambulatory patients, that the degree of emotional stability in healthy persons is lower compared to ambulatory patients, that the level of depression in healthy persons is lower compared to ambulatory patients, that the level of stress in healthy persons is significantly lower compared to ambulatory patients. For the testing of the 4 variables, the independent t-test was used which showed significant differences between healthy persons on Anxiety, Emotional instability, Depression and stress. A sample size of 100 subjects was used. The sample size was divided into 2 groups 50 from outside the hospital setting with a subdivision into equal numbers of 25 males and females. Age range was between 18 years and 60 years (with a mean of 31.87). Findings were discussed in relation to existing literature on the importance of recognizing the effect of being a patient undergoing hospitalization due to illness. Those findings revealed the need to re-assess some of the existing research in human behaviour in illness. The training and nurturing of both health and medical practitioners with the thorough understanding of human behaviour in illness was suggested.
S.O. Olatunji , U.C. Nwabuoku and T.W. Iyiola , 2008. Psychological Differences Between Healthy Persons and Ambulatory Patients. The Social Sciences, 3: 347-350.