Contemporary use of the disease concept.

Six measures were used to assay the degree to which physicians endorsed the disease concept in their practice of ambulatory medicine. For each measure, two series of data were generated: one for patients receiving antihypertensive medication and one for patients receiving psychotropic medication. The disease concept was endorsed by only four of six measures for the patients receiving antihypertensive medication, and it was not endorsed by any of the six measures when patients receiving psychotropic medications were studied. Within the limits of this study, it is concluded that the disease concept is not generally endorsed by physicians.