The prevalence of somatization in primary care

The authors define somatization as an idiom of distress in which patients with psychosocial and emotional problems articulate their distress primarily through physical symptomatology. Studies are then reviewed to demonstrate the inordinate amount of time and energy these patients cost the health car...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inComprehensive psychiatry Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 208 - 215
Main Authors Katon, Wayne, Ries, Richard K., Kleinman, Arthur
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.03.1984
Elsevier
Subjects
Biological and medical sciences
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diagnosis, Differential
General aspects
Humans
Medical sciences
Primary Health Care
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Somatoform Disorders - diagnosis
Somatoform Disorders - psychology
Human
Medicine
Affect affectivity
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III
Iatrogenic
Psychosomatics
Somatic conversion
Diagnostic
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Summary:The authors define somatization as an idiom of distress in which patients with psychosocial and emotional problems articulate their distress primarily through physical symptomatology. Studies are then reviewed to demonstrate the inordinate amount of time and energy these patients cost the health care practitioner as well as the frequency of misdiagnosis. Iatrogenic harm is a common problem in somatizing patients due to unnecessary tests, hospitalizations, surgeries as well as the development of chronic illness behavior. It is essential that psychiatrists working in consultationliaison begin to develop research in the area of somatization especially at the primary care level.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0010-440X
1532-8384
DOI:10.1016/0010-440X(84)90009-9