We used a modified version of the CIDI checklist of chronic
medical disorders and the respondents were asked to report any
of the disorders listed in the checklist. The question was read as,
‘I’m going to read to you a list of health problems some people
have. Has a doctor ever told you that you have any of the
following’? This was followed by a list of 15 chronic physical
conditions which were considered prevalent in Singapore’s population. We then re-classified these disorders into eight types of physical disorders: (1) respiratory conditions (asthma, chronic
lung disease such as chronic bronchitis or emphysema), (2) diabetes, (3) hypertension and high blood pressure, (4) chronic pain (arthritis or rheumatism, back problems including disk or spine,
migraine headaches), (5) cancer, (6) neurological conditions
(epilepsy, convulsion, Parkinson’s disease), (7) cardiovascular disorders (stroke or major paralysis, heart attack, coronary heart disease, angina, congestive heart failure or other heart disease),
and, (8) ulcer and chronic inflamed bowel (stomach ulcer, chronic
inflamed bowel, enteritis, or colitis). Socio-demographic data such as
age, gender, marital status, educational level, employment status
and income were captured using a structured questionnaire