Predictive validity and clinical utility of DSM-5 Somatic Symptom Disorder: Prospective 1-year follow-up study

Construct validity and clinical utility of current research criteria of DSM-5 somatic symptom disorder diagnosis in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome

“…We referred to diagnostic criteria for DSM-5 diagnosis of SSD of previous studies [5,7]: a. For criterion A (distressing somatic symptom), patients had to report to be bothered a lot by at least one symptom of the PHQ-15.…”

“…Early US studies provided evidence concerning feasibility [3], reliability [4], validity [5][6][7] and clinical utility [5,7,3] of the SSD diagnostic category. A gold standard method of diagnosis, a structured interview of the SSD criteria, does not yet exist.…”

“…Preliminary research criteria have been developed by recent studies [5][6][7]. These validation studies were conducted in psychiatry or psychosomatic medicine centers with patients who were previously diagnosed with somatoform disorders [5][6][7]. Developers of the SSD category stressed the necessity of further studies on the validity and clinical utility of SSD diagnosis when applied in other settings [2], e.g., internal or pain medicine.…”

“…The diagnosis of SSD may be made when there are persistent (i.e., typically longer than six months) somatic symptoms that are distressing and/or significantly disrupt daily life (criteria A and C) that are accompanied by excessive and disproportionate symptom-related thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding these symptoms (criteria B) [1]. The DSM 5 SSD workgroup postulated that clinicians should diagnose and treat SSD because successful treatment options (psychotherapy, psychotropic drugs) are available [2].Early US studies provided evidence concerning feasibility [3], reliability [4], validity [5][6][7] and clinical utility [5,7,3] of the SSD diagnostic category. A gold standard method of diagnosis, a structured interview of the SSD criteria, does not yet exist.…”

“…A gold standard method of diagnosis, a structured interview of the SSD criteria, does not yet exist. Preliminary research criteria have been developed by recent studies [5][6][7]. These validation studies were conducted in psychiatry or psychosomatic medicine centers with patients who were previously diagnosed with somatoform disorders [5][6][7].…”