In a sample of 150 people drawn from a population of asthma, tuberculosis, and chronic pain patients, a key cluster analysis revealed five different clusters of items in the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale: Restlessness, Embarrassment, Sensitivity, Physiological Anxiety, and Self‐Confidence. These clusters are consistent and four of them appear moderately related, whereas Embarrassment is fairly independent of the others.

An earlier report of a Bayesian model to predict psychomaintenance-determined rehospitalization among chronic asthmatic patients was replicated and refined. The present findings further demonstrate the existence and effect of psychomaintenance, the efficacy of psychometrically based prediction of psychomaintenance, and suggest one possible way of understanding reports of the effectiveness of psychologic treatment among medically ill patients.