The relation between health locus of control and multimorbidity: a case-control study

This paper describes a study on the relation between the health locus of control (HLOC) and a number of patient characteristics, with special interest for the presence of multimorbidity. Subjects (N=3745) completed a postal questionnaire with items about socio-demographic variables, socio-economic status, health locus of control and coping styles. Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the relation between HLOC and multimorbidity, as well as the psycho-social determinants of HLOC. People who had no disease or only one disease during the registration period of 3 years scored higher on the internal locus and lower on the external locus than people who had two or more co-occurring diseases. Adjusting for age, sex, education, profession, family situation and coping styles changed the magnitude but not the presence of these relations. Hypotheses with respect to the direction of this relation are discussed.