Dataset Information

Estimated frequency of somatic symptom disorder in general practice: cross-sectional survey with general practitioners.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Somatic symptom disorder (SSD) is the successor diagnosis of somatoform disorder in the 5th Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Relevance and frequency of SSD and its clinical symptoms in general practice are still unknown. We estimate frequencies of patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of SSD in general practice.

Methods

Mailed and online survey with general practitioners (GP) in Germany using a cross-sectional representative sample from registries of statutory health insurance physicians. GPs estimated percentages of their patients who show the clinical symptoms of SSD according to DSM-5; that is, one or more burdensome somatic symptoms (A criterion), excessive symptom- or illness-related concern, anxiety, or behaviour (B criterion), and persistence of the symptoms over at least 6 months (C criterion). Statistical analysis used means and confidence intervals of estimated patient proportions showing SSD symptoms. Frequency of full-blown SSD was based on the products of these proportions calculated for each GP.

Results

Responses from 1728 GPs were obtained. GPs saw the clinical symptoms of SSD fulfilled (A and B criteria) in 21.5% (95% CI: 20.6 to 22.3) of their patients. They further estimated that in 24.3% (95% CI: 23.3 to 25.2) of patients, symptoms would persist, yielding a total of 7.7% (95% CI: 7.1 to 8.4) of patients to have a full-blown SSD.

Conclusions

We estimate a frequency of 7.7% of patients in general practice to fulfil the diagnostic criteria of SSD. This number may figure as a reference for the yet to be uncovered prevalence of SSD and it indicates a high clinical relevance of the clinical symptoms of SSD in general practice.

Registration

German Clinical Trials Register (Deutschen Register Klinischer Studien, DRKS).

Drks-id

DRKS00012942. The date the study was registered: October 2nd 2017. The date the first participant was enrolled: February 9th 2018.

SUBMITTER: Lehmann M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9524044 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Estimated frequency of somatic symptom disorder in general practice: cross-sectional survey with general practitioners.

Lehmann Marco M Pohontsch Nadine Janis NJ Zimmermann Thomas T Scherer Martin M Löwe Bernd B

BMC psychiatry 20220929 1

<h4>Background</h4>Somatic symptom disorder (SSD) is the successor diagnosis of somatoform disorder in the 5th Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Relevance and frequency of SSD and its clinical symptoms in general practice are still unknown. We estimate frequencies of patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of SSD in general practice.<h4>Methods</h4>Mailed and online survey with general practitioners (GP) in Germany using a cross-sectional represent ...[more]

PMID: 36175883

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Dataset Information

Estimated frequency of somatic symptom disorder in general practice: cross-sectional survey with general practitioners.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Registration

Drks-id

Publications

Estimated frequency of somatic symptom disorder in general practice: cross-sectional survey with general practitioners.

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