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Fink: "Physical symptom attributions: a defining characteristic of somatoform disorders?" [No]

Messages
13,774
Only seen the abstract, but there's still the odd sneering reference to this sort of thing from doctors/journalists, so thought it may be of interest.

Physical symptom attributions: a defining characteristic of somatoform disorders? ☆☆
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Abstract
Objectives
We examined whether primary care patients were more likely to perceive a current health problem as ‘physical illness only’ as opposed to entailing psychological difficulties if they had a comorbid somatoform disorder compared to patients who had (a) both comorbid somatoform disorder and anxiety/depression or (b) comorbid anxiety and/or depression, and a reference group of (c) patients with well-defined physical disease. We examined whether attributions predicted future health expenditures.

Methods
A total of 1209 of 1785 patients completed questions on patient-perceived illness. The physicians diagnosed the current health problem. A stratified subsample was interviewed using the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry. Health expenditure was obtained from registers for a 2-year period.

Results
The belief that the current health problem was only physical was endorsed by 86% of patients presenting physical disease, 58% of patients with somatoform disorders, 29% of patients with both somatoform disorders and anxiety/depression and 24% of patients with anxiety or depressive disorders (χ2= 269.2, df=3, P< .0001). In a multiple regression model, a ‘physical illness only’ perception predicted lower health expenditures [β=−0.31, 95% confidence interval (− 0.55; − 0.07), P= .013].

Conclusions
The prevalent assumption that physical symptom attributions are a central aspect in somatoform disorders is not supported by the current study.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25677210

Looks like it's based on data from this RCT on 're-attribution' for FSS: http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...reatment-of-functional-somatic-symptoms.5445/
 
Last edited:

Sean

Senior Member
Messages
7,378
...a ‘physical illness only’ perception predicted lower health expenditures...

The prevalent assumption that physical symptom attributions are a central aspect in somatoform disorders is not supported by the current study.
Or any other study.

I wonder if that nice Finky-poos is going to let Karina go now, and even, you know, apologise?

What a farce.

:mad:
 
Messages
13,774
Another thing not supported by the current study is the very existence of somatoform disorders. I am still waiting for a paper that proves they even exist.

OT: The other paper uses the FSS terminology. Just from this abstract it looks like he's using them interchangeably, but it's odd that he's gone back to somatoform from FSS a few years ago. (I also have a memory of reading a paper in the last few days that had somatoform as a sub-group of FSS, and now can't remember what that was. Maybe I did find the full paper for this? I've confused myself and don't think it's worth checking up on.)
 

SDSue

Southeast
Messages
1,066
I read the Abstract 3 times and I still don't get it. Seems a colossal waste of monies that could be better spent explaining "unexplained medical symptoms".

"Somatoform" needs to die of starvation. :woot:
 

Snow Leopard

Hibernating
Messages
5,902
Location
South Australia
Isn't this a tautology, I mean if you believe it is a 'physical' disease, then it isn't somatoform? So patients share the beliefs of the psychiatrists because no one knows any better...
 

alex3619

Senior Member
Messages
13,810
Location
Logan, Queensland, Australia
"Somatoform" needs to die of starvation. :woot:
Its the island of Mauritius, circa 1650, and the dodos are running around pretending all is fine. Trouble is every so often yet another boatload of hungry sailors lands. Somatoform disorders will go the way of the dodo, but we don't know when. Meanwhile the dodo is convinced everything is fine. They aren't being served up for dinner today, so it will never happen.
 

SDSue

Southeast
Messages
1,066
@alex3619
Go the way of the dodo, you say?


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