Psychological factors predict symptoms of severe recurrent genital herpes infection.

In a group of patients with severe recurrent genital herpes infection, we measured symptoms (pain and itching), psychological factors (depression, anxiety, somatisation, interpersonal sensitivity, and life change) and objective indices of disease (number of recurrences in the previous year, total number of recurrences, duration of recurrences, number of lesions per recurrence). Psychological factors were more predictive of pain and itching than were somatic indices, even after correcting for sex.