Assessing Somatization With Various Diagnostic Criteria

BackgroundSomatization is a widespread clinical phenomenon that cuts across diagnostic categories, both psychiatric and medical.ObjectiveThis study investigates whether somatization can be assessed with a comprehensive diagnostic system, the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) in gastroenterology and cardiology (myocardial infarction) patients.MethodAuthors assessed a group of 343 outpatients, 190 gastroenterology and 153 cardiology outpatients, with functional gastrointestinal disorders and recent first myocardial infarction.ResultsA total of 146 patients were diagnosed by the DCPR Somatization cluster and 106 by the DCPR Abnormal Illness Behavior cluster; 27 patients who met DSM–IV criteria for somatoform disorders were not classified with any DCPR somatization syndromes, whereas 120 with DCPR Somatization cluster did not satisfy the criteria for DSM–IV somatoform disorders.ConclusionFindings suggest that the DCPR is able to identify clinical and subthreshold psychosomatic syndromes and that it can used jointly with the DSM–IV.