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Somatisation disorder in primary care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

Javier I. Escobar ,
Michael Gara ,
Roxanne Cohen Silver ,
Howard Waitzkin ,
Alison Holman  and
Wilson Compton
Javier I. Escobar
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
Michael Gara
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
Roxanne Cohen Silver
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
Howard Waitzkin
Affiliation:
Division of Community Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Alison Holman
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, School of Social Ecology, University of Irvine, California, USA
Wilson Compton
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University, St Louis, Missouri, USA
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Abstract

Background

Somatisation is a common and frustrating clinical problem in primary care.

Method

Using structural diagnoses and functional measures, we examined the prevalence and associated features of somatisation disorder defined by three current nosologies and an abridged construct in subjects using primary care services.

Results

Somatisation disorder, diagnosed according to the standard criteria, was found to have a very low prevalence (range 0.06–5%), while more than one-fifth of the sample (22%) met the criteria for the abridged diagnosis. There was poor agreement between succeeding versions of the DSM system for identifying cases of somatisation disorder, each system ending up with rather disparate sets of individuals as well as variable levels of psychopathology and disability.

Conclusions

According to these data, standard somatisation disorder diagnoses add little to the prediction of disability/psychopathology beyond the contributions of an abridged construct of somatisation.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 173 , Issue 3 , September 1998 , pp. 262 - 266
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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