Specific Somatoform Disorder in the General Population

• Published in: Psychosomatics (Washington, D.C.) Vol. 44; no. 4; pp. 304 - 311
• Main Authors: Joergen Grabe, Hans, Meyer, Christian, Hapke, Ulfert, Rumpf, Hans-Juergen, Juergen Freyberger, Harald, Dilling, Horst, John, Ulrich
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Elsevier Inc 01.07.2003; American Psychiatric Press; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Cross-Sectional Studies; Demography; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Germany - epidemiology; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Personal Satisfaction; Population Surveillance; Prevalence; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Severity of Illness Index; Somatoform Disorders - diagnosis; Somatoform Disorders - epidemiology; Techniques and methods; Europe; Germany; Social environment; Mental health; Satisfaction; Nosology; Health service; German; Criterion; Cross sectional study; Classification; Diagnosis; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV; Public health; Human; Help seeking; Evaluation; Foreign language version; Attitude; Use; Prediction; Somatization; Psychometrics; Quality of life; Test validation; Symptomatology; Treatment; Somatoform disorder; Directive interview
• ISSN: 0033-3182; 1545-7206
• DOI: 10.1176/appi.psy.44.4.304

The authors assessed the validity of the recently proposed diagnosis for specific somatoform disorder in the general population. German versions of the DSM-IV adapted Composite International Diagnostic Interview were administered to a representative sample of 4,075 individuals. Multivariate analyses were used to compare impairment, life satisfaction, and use of health care. A total of 803 of 4,075 subjects (19.7%) with undifferentiated somatization disorder were identified, which included 51 subjects (1.3%) who met criteria for specific somatoform disorder. Subjects with specific somatoform disorder were more impaired, had lower life satisfaction, and had higher use of health care than subjects with undifferentiated somatization disorder only. The proposed diagnosis of specific somatoform disorder demonstrated a high validity independent of comorbid depressive and anxiety disorders.