Disability,depression and somatization in a low back pain population

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) in a primary care setting population and examine its association with the symptoms of depression and somatization. Methods: This is a cross‐sectional study, utilising a survey carried out in primary health care clinics (PHCs) in Al‐Ain, United Arab Emirates (UAE). A multistage stratified sampling design was used and a representative sample of 1304 UAE nationals aged 18–65 years who attended PHC clinics for any reason were included and 1103 (84.5%) subjects agreed to participate and responded to the questionnaire during a period from June 2001 to January 2002. A specially designed questionnaire with three parts was used for the data collection: socio‐demographic information of the studied subjects, modified version of the Roland‐Morris scale for evaluating back‐related functional disability and SCL‐90 R for depression and somatization subscales was used to assess depressive and somatic symptoms. Results: Of the total number of subjects surveyed (1103), 586 (53.1%) were men and 517 (46.9%) women. The mean age was 34.9 ± 13.4 years for men and 33.5 ± 11.8 years for women. The prevalence of LBP in the studied subjects was 64.7% (95% CI, 60.7–68.5] with 46.7% among men and 53.3% among women. There were a significant differences between the subjects with LBP and without LBP with respect to gender (P < 0.001), body mass index (BMI) (P < 0.001), occupational status (P < 0.001) and living environment (P = 0.016). Functional disability was higher in patients with LBP. Young patients in aged 15–34 years, patients with preparatory/secondary educational level and students showed higher depressive symptoms. A similar pattern was found in patients with somatic symptoms. Factor analysis revealed a strong association between depression and somatization in LBP patients. Conclusions: Functional disability was higher in with LBP. Furthermore, symptoms of depression and somatization are prevalent among LBP patients.     

Health and illness behavior and patient-practitioner relationships

Health is a product of culture and social structure. The routine organization and constraints of everyday settings shape our health. Socio-economic status is of major importance in determining exposure to disease risk and in shaping health and illness behavior responses. Lay explanations of illness affect illness appraisal, self-treatment, decisions to seek care and changes in daily regimen. Somatization of psychosocial stressors is a common concern in primary care systems throughout the world, and doctors are commonly frustrated by such patients. Somatizing patients are often enmeshed in environments of great psychosocial difficulty or are depressed, and many cultural and social factors affect how depression is expressed. Although depression has devastating disabling effects on patients, it is often neither recognized by doctors nor treated. But doctor-patient relationships are often the context for appropriate management of such problems, and how they are handled affect the future trajectory of illness and disability. Doctors' responses are conditioned by their attitudes, training, interviewing and psychosocial skills, and organizational and financial factors. Patient flow is an important intervening variable affecting the management of psychosocial difficulties and depression.     

Abdominal pain in children and symptoms of somatization disorder

Children seen in a multispecialty medical clinic for abdominalpain were divided into three groups: 21 with confirmed organicfindings related to the abdominal pain, 14 with confirmed organicfindings unrelated to the pain, and 108 whose physical examinationswere negative (the functional pain group). For children withfunctional abdominal pain (but not for the others) the numberof symptoms of somatization disorder (Briquet's syndrome) wassignificantly related to the chronicity of the child's condition.Children with functional pain and no prior complaint had a meanof 1.95 symptoms; those with complaints of less than 1 year'sduration, 2.21 symptoms; those with complaints of more thana year since age 6, 4.04 symptoms; and those with complaintsfor more than a year with onset prior to age 6 years, 4.55 symptomsfrom the Somatization Disorder list. Findings were interpretedas preliminary evidence for a distinct, chronic, polysymptomatichysterical disorder beginning in childhood.     

Symptom patterns and causes of somatization in men: I. Differentiation of two discrete disorders

Two distinct patterns of somatization were identified in 807 Swedish adopted men, using comprehensive lifetime psychiatric and sick-leave records. "Diversiform" somatizers had a high frequency of brief sickness occasions for a wide diversity of complaints, particularly pain in the head, joints, and abdomen. "Asthenic" somatizers had a lower frequency and diversity of complaints. They recuperate more slowly, however, and were more often disabled by fatigue, weakness, and minor illnesses such as upper respiratory infections. Both types of somatizers had associated psychosocial maladjustment, but they had discrete clinical patterns, with infrequent overlap. Diversiform somatizers had a higher risk of alcohol abuse, psychiatric hospitalization, and substandard income than either asthenic somatizers or non-somatizers. Asthenic somatizers had a higher risk of divorce than either diversiform somatizers or non-somatizers. Men with prominent somatization had an excess of psychiatric treatment for alcoholism or anxiety disorders, but, unlike female somatizers, no excess of criminality. These clinical differences suggest that the psychiatric processes associated with somatization may be qualitatively different in men and women. The method used here is generally applicable in genetic epidemiology to identify natural clinical subtypes within a heterogeneous phenotype.     

乳腺癌患者的心理状况及其影响因素调查研究

目的 探讨乳腺癌患者的心理状况及其影响因素.方法 采用症状自评量表(SCL-90)调查分析了896例乳腺癌患者和1 419例乳腺良性疾病患者的心理健康状况,并用该量表对不同职业、文化程度、家庭支持态度的乳腺癌患者进行了心理健康状况差异的分析研究.结果 乳腺癌患者症状自评量表各因子得分均高于乳腺良性疾病患者(P＜0.05),乳腺癌患者强迫症状和躯体化因子较其他因子得分高(P＜0.05).乳腺癌患者中工人和干部有强迫症状者所占比例高于农民(P＜0.05),家庭支持态度好其强迫症状所占比例低(P＜0.05).文化程度越高其躯体化症状所占比例低(P＜0.05).结论 针对乳腺癌患者存在较高的躯体化和强迫症状等心理问题,通过对患者心理进行疏导和干预,从而改善乳腺癌患者的生活质量.     

Health related quality of life changes in somatising patients after individual versus group cognitive behavioural therapy: A randomized clinical trial

Objective

To assess changes in health related quality of life after a cognitive behavioural program for patients diagnosed with abridged somatization disorder in primary care.

Method

A multicentre, randomized, parallel group, controlled trial was designed. 168 patients were recruited from 29 primary health care centres in Spain and were randomly assigned to one of the three study arms: treatment as usual improved with Smith's norms, individual cognitive behavioural treatment, and group cognitive behavioural treatment. Health-related quality of life was assessed using SF-36 Health Survey.

Results

Individual cognitive behavioural treatment achieves greater changes in health related quality of life than group cognitive behavioural therapy and treatment as usual. Improvement in health related quality of life was fully observed at 12 month, and partially at 6 months. The modality of intervention interacts with time in all dimensions except for Physical functioning and Vitality. Patients who received individual cognitive behavioural therapy treatment had better scores in Physical and Mental health summary measures at 12 month follow-up.

Conclusions

Individual cognitive behavioural treatment is the most effective way to improve health related quality of life in abridged somatization disorder patients, and its effects are sustained over time. Also, regardless of the type of intervention, physical functioning improves compared with treatment as usual.     

Discomfort and disability in upper respiratory tract infection

Ambulatory patients with upper respiratory infection were studied to determine the relative contributions made by tissue pathology, psychologic and perceptual attributes, and demographic characteristics to reported discomfort and disability. Patients (n=115) attending a medical walk-in clinic completed self-report questionnaires to assess somatization, anxiety, depression, hostility, amplification, discomfort, disability, and demographic characteristics. Clinicians rated the extent of disease apparent on physical examination. Using stepwise multiple regression, demographic factors and physical findings explained 25% of the variance in reported discomfort. The addition of somatization scores increased the variance explained to 49%. The best model, including somatization and amplification, accounted for 54% of the variance. A model composed of demographic characteristics, physical findings, and somatization accounted for 25% of the variance in reported disability. The authors conclude that psychologic variables are important in the experience of discomfort, even after the extent of physical disease and demographic characteristics have been taken into account. Received from the Primary Care Program of the General Internal Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine, and the Department of Psychiatry; Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Boston, Massachusetts. This study would not have been possible without the careful data collection of Robert Sorcher and the ongoing statistical consultation of Harriet Peterson and Paul Cleary.     

米氮平联合坤泰胶囊对更年期抑郁症疗效观察

目的：探讨米氮平联合坤泰胶囊对更年期抑郁症的疗效。方法将54例符合更年期首发抑郁障碍的患者随机分成米氮平联合坤泰胶囊治疗组（观察组）和单用米氮平治疗组（对照组）,疗程8周。采用汉密尔顿抑郁量表（ HAMD）评定疗效。结果治疗2、4、6、8周后观察组的HAMD评分显著低于对照组,两组HAMD评分比较均有显著性差异（ t值分别为2．46、4．78、4．98、6．22,均P＜0．05）。两组躯体化症状在治疗后1、2、4、6、8周比较均有显著性差异（t值分别为1．11、2．79、2．86、3．01、3．11,均P＜0．01）。结论米氮平联合坤泰胶囊治疗更年期抑郁症起效快、效果好。