Clinical features of functional somatic symptoms in children and referral patterns to child and adolescent mental health services

Tøt-Strate, Simone; Dehlholm-Lambertsen, Gitte; Lassen, Karin Østergaard; Rask, Charlotte Ulrikka

doi:10.1111/apa.13310

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Our study implicates that bio-genetic, psychological, and family factors are the key impact factors in adolescents with STs. As reported in a recent study, possible genetic and environmental factors contribute to somatic symptoms in children and adolescents 39 ; a result which appears to be consistent with our study. Previous studies also state an association between SD and depression or anxiety disorders 7 .…”

Section: The Environmental Impact Factors Of Adolescent Stssupporting

confidence: 94%

Prevalence and environmental impact factors of somatization tendencies in eastern Chinese adolescents: a multicenter observational study

Cheng

Xie

et al. 2019

Cad. Saúde Pública

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The aim of this study is at examining the prevalence and impact factors of adolescent somatization tendencies (ST) across three eastern Chinese provinces. A multicenter school-based cross-sectional study was conducted in these provinces from 2015 to 2016. The sample included 11,153 middle-school students aged 13-18 years, who were randomly selected using a multi-phase stratified cluster sampling technique. We also designed a multicenter school-based case-control study to evaluate the potential environmental impact of ST factors on this population. The overall positive rate of ST among the eastern Chinese adolescents was 12.1%. Somatic symptoms score (SSS) and positive ST rate were higher in females than males. Additionally, the SSS and positive ST rate for the 18-year-old group were significantly higher than in other age groups. In comparison to those in urban areas, adolescents in rural areas had significantly higher SSS and positive ST rate. Multiple conditional regression analyses revealed that family medical history, anxiety and depression scores; superstitious beliefs; left-behind adolescents; teacher-student support; family conflict; and family independence and achievement orientation were significantly linked to ST in adolescents. The models also indicated family medical history was the strongest impact factor to adolescent ST, even though ST were prevalent in the three studied eastern Chinese provinces. Gender, age, and dwelling differences were very significant in the SSS and positive ST rate in adolescents. This study concludes that adolescent ST are influenced by multiple environments.

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Section: The Environmental Impact Factors Of Adolescent Stssupporting

confidence: 94%

Prevalence and environmental impact factors of somatization tendencies in eastern Chinese adolescents: a multicenter observational study

Cheng

Xie

et al. 2019

Cad. Saúde Pública

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“…This would help translate into paediatric practice the emerging knowledge on the relevance of psychiatric and psychosocial factors for the understanding and management of paediatric FSS. The hospital where this study was conducted is to be congratulated for supporting PL CAMHS and the study by Tøt-Strate et al (1), and in so doing leading the way for possible further developments in this field. M Elena Garralda (e.garralda@imperial.ac.uk) Centre for Mental Health, Imperial College London, London, UK…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The hospital where this study was conducted is to be congratulated for supporting PL CAMHS and the study by Tøt‐Strate et al. , and in so doing leading the way for possible further developments in this field.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, we know little about how they are managed in practice. The study by Tøt-Strate et al (1) helps fill this gap for children with FSS sufficiently severe to lead to paediatric hospital admission. Through scrutiny of medical records and discussion with clinicians, they identified children with FSS admitted in the course of 1 year to the paediatric department of a Danish Hospital with a number of paediatric subspecialty units, and they compared clinical features noted in medical records in those who were and were not referred to the local paediatric liaison child and adolescent mental health service (PL CAMHS).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Hospital management of paediatric functional somatic symptoms

Garralda

2016

Acta Paediatrica

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“…Recently, several authors have point out that somatoform symptoms in adolescents population are one of the main reasons of access to primary care services for seeking professional help and performing a number of specialist examinations (Casini, 2015;Tøt-Strate et al, 2016). Indeed, it has been reported that approximately 25-50% of emergency department (ED) visits by adolescents are for non urgent and non organic problems (Alderman, 2012;Cozzi et al, 2017).…”

Section: Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Somatoform Symptoms In Adolescents Who Visit The Emergency Department: Alexithymia And Defensive Strategies

Marzilli¹

2017

European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences

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Somatoform symptoms represent one of the main reasons of access to emergency department (ED) in adolescence. Research in this field has limitedly focused on difficulties to recognize and cope with their own emotions, considering the access rate to an ED. The present study aims to verify whether adolescents who accessed an ED for somatoform symptoms show high alexithymia traits and use specific defense strategies. Adolescents (range: 15-24 years) who visited an ED for somatoform symptoms (N=37) or who accessed to an ED for somatoform symptoms in the past (N=37) were involved in this study and completed the TAS-20 to assess alexithymia and the REM-71 to assess use of defense mechanisms. A control group of adolescents from general population were paired. Adolescents who visited an ED for somatoform symptoms shown more alexithymic traits and a higher use of maladaptive defense strategies respect to control group. Higher rates of access to ED are associated with more use of repression, but only for adolescents who accessed to an ED in the past. Finally, alexithymic characteristics are associated with use of specific defense strategies. Our findings confirm that ED is one of the most used services of young people suffering from somatoform symptoms. In this perspective, ED visits are to be considered as adolescents' unconscious attempt to seek psychological help. These findings evidence the importance of prevention programs based on increasing of awareness and acceptance of unconscious needs and on the promoting of use of adaptive defense mechanisms.

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Clinical features of functional somatic symptoms in children and referral patterns to child and adolescent mental health services

Abstract: Paediatric inpatients with more severe FSS were more likely to be referred to CAMHS, but referral reasons were generally vague and psychosocial information was frequently missing. Clinical guidelines are needed to improve and systematise mental health referrals for children with FSS.

Cited by 16 publications

References 29 publications

Prevalence and environmental impact factors of somatization tendencies in eastern Chinese adolescents: a multicenter observational study

Prevalence and environmental impact factors of somatization tendencies in eastern Chinese adolescents: a multicenter observational study

Hospital management of paediatric functional somatic symptoms

Somatoform Symptoms In Adolescents Who Visit The Emergency Department: Alexithymia And Defensive Strategies

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