Clinical features of outpatients with somatization symptoms treated at a Japanese psychosomatic medicine clinic

Nakamura, Yuzo; Takeuchi, Toshio; Hashimoto, Kazuaki; Hashizume, Masahiro

doi:10.1186/s13030-017-0104-x

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…In a study carried out by Dönmez et al in Antalya, Turkey female gender has been found to increase the risk of somatization disorder by 1.9 times (17). In a study conducted with SCL90-R questionnaire in Germany and in another study carried out in Japan examining the clinical characteristics of patients with somatization Konuralp Tıp Dergisi 2020;12(2): 183-190 188 symptoms, somatization disorder was found to be more prevalent in women ( 18) (19). In the study by Kaya et al on the epidemiology of Somatoform Disorders, it was emphasized that the maledominated structure of the society and the more passive use of the body language of the women who remain in a passive position from childhood can cause somatization disorders to be seen more frequently in women (20).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Somatik belirtilerin sosyodemografik ve klinik özellikler ile ilişkisi

Tan

Şahin

2020

Konuralp Tıp Dergisi

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Objective: Somatization is a psychiatric condition characterized by recurring somatic symptoms that cannot be fully explained by the general medical condition of the individual and are not attributable to another mental disorder. There are physical, psychological and social factors that affect somatic symptoms of individuals. The aim of this study is to screen somatic symptoms of patients admitted to our clinic and to investigate the relationship between scanning results and sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 414 participants aged 18-65 years who admitted to the Family Medicine Clinic of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Medical Faculty between February 2018 and November 2018. Sociodemographic data form and SCL90-R (Symptom Checklist 90-Revised) psychological symptom screening test was applied to the participants through face to face interview method. Results: Of all the participants, 256 (61.8%) were female and 158 (38.2%) were male and the mean age was 33.7±13.6 years. Of all the participants, 47.3% were university graduates or had a higher educational background. The mean score of the somatization subscale of the SCL90-R screening test was 1.0±0.6. The factors increasing the somatic symptoms were female gender, increasing number of children, being an immigrant, decreasing education level, increasing amount of drug use, increasing number of applications to health institutions, and implementation of alternative medicine techniques, presence of mental illness in families and their relatives. Conclusions: In the present study, the prevalence of somatic symptoms was found to be high and clinically significant. In particular, the social position of women in Turkey, their lifestyles, and their specific characteristics such as using body language more are associated with high somatic symptoms. Emotional disability caused by migrations makes individuals be at greater risk in terms of somatization. The personality development that increases with the education level and increased communication skills reduce the risk of somatization. Symptoms of patients who frequently use health care and treatment options and apply alternative medicine are more significant in terms of somatization.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Somatik belirtilerin sosyodemografik ve klinik özellikler ile ilişkisi

Tan

Şahin

2020

Konuralp Tıp Dergisi

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“…MUS is defined as “physical symptoms for which no clear or consistent organic pathology can be demonstrated” [ 1 ]. Our patients were diagnosed by physicians specializing in psychosomatic medicine, as described previously [ 2 ]. Patients with unknown BZD use history (eg, those prescribed at another hospital) were excluded.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cases of refractory MUS sometimes become persistent or chronic; therefore, it has been proposed that the treatment of MUS should be interdisciplinary because it has a complex clinical spectrum [ 1 ]. In our previous study, we reported various clinical symptoms of MUS [ 2 ] that complicate its treatment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of relaxation therapy on benzodiazepine use in patients with medically unexplained symptoms

Hashimoto

Takeuchi

Koyama

et al. 2020

BioPsychoSocial Med

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Background The change in the benzodiazepine (BZD) use of patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) following the application of relaxation therapy were examined. Methods Of the 221 outpatients with MUS using BZD, 42 received relaxation therapy. Change in BZD use was compared using a relaxation group ( n = 42) and a control group that had 84 MUS patients whose baseline was matched by optimal matching algorithms. Logistic regression analysis was done to evaluate the effect of BZD-dependent factors on the BZD dose of the relaxation group. Results Compared with the control group, the number of patients who decreased the amount of BZD and the number of patients whose subjective symptoms of MUS improved were significantly higher in the relaxation group ( p < 0.05). In addition, a factor that made it difficult to reduce the BZD of MUS patients who had undergone relaxation was a long history of BZD use, for more than 6 months (odds ratio, 0.06, 95% confidence interval, 0.01–0.36). Conclusions Relaxation therapy for patients with MUS may help reduce BZD use; however, early intervention is important to prevent BZD dependence.

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“…Given that illness behavior depends on the healthcare system and culture of a country, 1 it is necessary to investigate the behavior in each healthcare system. In systems wherein patients must first visit family physicians for referrals, MUS accounts for 5%–30% of primary care patient diagnoses 2 and 37%–68% of specialty care patient diagnoses 14,15 . On the contrary, Japan has a “free access” system wherein patients can utilize whatever kinds of outpatient services they like without referrals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of outpatients with functional somatic syndromes at a university hospital's general medicine clinic

Nishiyama

Abe

Imaizumi

et al. 2022

J of Gen and Family Med

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Background The term medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) is unhelpful for both patients and physicians, and more acceptable illness categories are needed as substitutes for MUS. While some potential substitutes are characterized by excessive psychological burden related to somatic symptoms, “functional somatic syndromes” (FSS) is a category that focuses on physical dysfunction and emphasizes similarities among individual syndromes. Examples of FSS include irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, and fibromyalgia syndrome. This study aimed to distinguish FSS from MUS and compare the somatic and psychobehavioral characteristics of FSS with those of other diseases. Methods This study included 1975 first‐visit outpatients at a Japanese university hospital's general medicine clinic. According to their first‐listed diagnosis, they were classified as having FSS, acute infection, organic disease (OD), psychiatric disorder, and unknown condition (UC). The somatic symptom burden and health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) were assessed using the Somatic Symptom Scale‐8 and EuroQol‐5 Dimension, respectively; the involvement of psychobehavioral factors affecting somatic symptoms was also evaluated. Results Overall, 33% of patients were included in the FSS category, and 93% of the supposed MUS (FSS and UC) were diagnosed with FSS. Compared with OD, FSS showed more severe somatic symptom burden, similar reduced HRQoL, and higher involvement of psychobehavioral factors. Conclusion It can be useful to improve FSS diagnostic skills for the reduction of MUS misdiagnosis. Psychobehavioral factors might be less associated with MUS (in the narrow sense of the term) than FSS.

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Clinical features of outpatients with somatization symptoms treated at a Japanese psychosomatic medicine clinic

Cited by 8 publications

References 18 publications

Somatik belirtilerin sosyodemografik ve klinik özellikler ile ilişkisi

Somatik belirtilerin sosyodemografik ve klinik özellikler ile ilişkisi

Effect of relaxation therapy on benzodiazepine use in patients with medically unexplained symptoms

Characteristics of outpatients with functional somatic syndromes at a university hospital's general medicine clinic

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