ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2009
Somatization increases disability independent of comorbidity.
Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 109 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of the Participatory Approach on Return-to-Work of Sick-Listed Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2026Pooled it
- Outcome measurement in functional neurological disorder: a systematic review and recommendations.Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Phenomena associated with sick leave among primary care patients with Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms: a systematic review.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2012Pooled it
- Different faces of anxiety in sexual dysfunction: key features, effective interventions, and critical implications for health care professionals-ESSM position statements.Sexual medicine · 2025Review
- Examining the factors associated with disabilities among hypertensive patients in India.Narra J · 2025Article
- Psychotic symptoms in Chinese patients with somatic symptom disorder: prevalence, risk factors, and associated conditions.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- A novel fast detection algorithm for depression based on 3-channel EEG signals.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- Article
- Differences in health-related quality of life and somatic symptoms in employed and unemployed patients with epilepsy.Epilepsy & behavior reports · 2024Article
- Somatic symptoms in schizophrenia: Association with socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, disability and quality of life.Indian journal of psychiatry · 2023Article
- Non-Cardiac Chest Pain as a Persistent Physical Symptom: Psychological Distress and Workability.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Sex Differences in Comorbidity Combinations in the Swedish Population.Biomolecules · 2022Article
- Effect of Peer Victimization on the Long-Term Mental Health Status among Adults Users of Intellectual Disability Services: A Longitudinal Follow-Up Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Rare Mental Health Disorders Affecting Urologic Care: A Comprehensive Review.Health psychology research · 2022Article
- Families With Violence Exposure and the Intergenerational Transmission of Somatization.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Recent developments on psychological factors in medically unexplained symptoms and somatoform disorders.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- "I'm So Tired": Fatigue as a Persistent Physical Symptom among Working People Experiencing Exhaustion Disorder.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Days out of role and somatic, anxious-depressive, hypo-manic, and psychotic-like symptom dimensions in a community sample of young adults.Translational psychiatry · 2021Article
- Somatization Level Among Psychosomatic Dermatology Patients: Relationship With Dyadic Adjustment, Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Perfectionism.Alpha psychiatry · 2021Article
- Racial/ethnic differences in general physical symptoms and medically unexplained physical symptoms: Investigating the role of education.Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSomatoform disorders are an important factor in functional disability and role impairment, though their independent contribution to disability has been unclear because of prevalent medical and psychiatric comorbidity.
objectivesTo assess the extent of the overlap of somatization with other psychiatric disorders and medical problems, to compare the functional disability and role impairment of somatizing and non-somatizing patients, and to determine the independent contribution of somatization to functional disability and role impairment.
designPatients were surveyed with self-report questionnaires assessing somatization, psychiatric disorder, and role impairment. Medical morbidity was indexed with a computerized medical record audit.
participantsConsecutive adults making scheduled visits to their primary care physicians at two hospital-affiliated primary care practices on randomly chosen days. MEASUREMENTS: Intermediate activities of daily living, social activities, and occupational disability.
resultsPatients with somatization, as well as those with serious medical and psychiatric illnesses, had significantly more impairment of activities of daily life and social activities. When these predictors were considered simultaneously in a multivariable regression, the association with somatization remained highly significant and was comparable to or greater than many major medical conditions.
conclusionsPatients with somatization had substantially greater functional disability and role impairment than non-somatizing patients. The degree of disability was equal to or greater than that associated with many major, chronic medical disorders. Adjusting the results for psychiatric and medical co-morbidity had little effect on these findings.
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