Psychological factors in the prediction of Lyme disease course.

Objective: To determine whether history of severe, long-term, premorbid, psychological stress is associated with increased incidence of chronic physical symptoms in presumed Lyme disease patients.

Methods: Fifty-seven patients presenting at Lyme Disease Clinic of Long Island Jewish-Hillside Medical Center were studied for presenting symptoms, presence or absence of Lyme disease, and past history of psychological trauma. They were restudied 1 to 1.