• Shi-Zhu Bian, Jun Jin, Jun-Qing Dong, Qian-Ning Li, Jie Yu, Cai-Fa Tang, Shi-Yong Yu, Xiao-Hui Zhao, Jun Qin, and Lan Huang.
• Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases of PLA, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, China; Department of Cardiology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, China. Electronic address: bianshizhu@163.com.
• Physiol. Behav. 2016 Dec 1; 167: 202-208.

ObjectiveThe current study aimed to identify the predictive values of psychological factors that are evaluated by the Symptoms Checklist-90 (SCL-90) for acute mountain sickness (AMS).MethodsThe subjects (n=285, non-acclimatized young Chinese men), who were recruited in July 2013, completed a case report questionnaire. In addition, their vital signs (heart rate [HR], blood pressure and pulse oxygen saturation) were measured, and their psychological factors were examined using the SCL-90 at sea level. AMS was diagnosed using the Lake Louise self-assessment scoring system in the morning of the second day after their arrival at 3450m.ResultsOf the nine factors of the SCL-90, the AMS patients (AMS score≥3) were characterized by significantly higher scores for baseline somatization [14.0 (5.0) vs. 13.0 (3.0), p<0.001], obsession-compulsion, depression, anxiety and hostility compared with the non-AMS group (all p values<0.05). Spearman's correlation analyses revealed associations between AMS scores and somatization (r=0.316, p<0.001), depression, anxiety, obsession-compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and psychoticism scores (all p values<0.001). Although all nine factors were associated with AMS in a univariate regression (all p<0.05), a further adjusted logistic regression analysis indicated that only baseline somatization score (odds ratio=1.129, p=0.001) was an independent predictor of AMS. Furthermore, some non-AMS often-occurred symptoms (paresthesia, shortness of breath, reduced activity and tinnitus) were also found to be associated with the baseline SCL-90 scores.ConclusionAMS is correlated with the baseline somatization score at sea level, which was measured using the SCL-90. A higher baseline somatization score is also an independent predictor of AMS.Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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