ArticleBMC psychiatry2022
Estimated frequency of somatic symptom disorder in general practice: cross-sectional survey with general practitioners.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Living with and caring for somatic symptom disorders: a qualitative interview-study with patients and GPs using a deductive-inductive content analytic approach.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- The Mediation Effect of Eudaimonic Well-Being in the Relationship Between Self-Determination and Somatic Symptoms.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- SSD-12 somatic symptom disorder scale: replication of validation and introduction of a parent version SSD-12-P.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Risk Assessment of Somatic Symptom Disorder Among Patients Attending a Family Medicine Practice in an Academic Center.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2025Article
- Prevalence and risk factors for depression in somatic symptom disorder patients: a cross-sectional clinical study in China.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Les troubles à symptomatologie somatique et apparentés: directives d'évaluation et de prise en charge pour les professionnels de la santé des enfants.Paediatrics & child health · 2025Review
- Somatic symptom and related disorders: Guidance on assessment and management for paediatric health care providers.Paediatrics & child health · 2025Review
- Global research status and trends of somatic symptom disorder: A bibliometric study.World journal of psychiatry · 2025Article
- Lessons learned from applying established cut-off values of questionnaires to detect somatic symptom disorders in primary care: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
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5 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundSomatic symptom disorder (SSD) is the successor diagnosis of somatoform disorder in the 5th Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Relevance and frequency of SSD and its clinical symptoms in general practice are still unknown. We estimate frequencies of patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of SSD in general practice.
methodsMailed and online survey with general practitioners (GP) in Germany using a cross-sectional representative sample from registries of statutory health insurance physicians. GPs estimated percentages of their patients who show the clinical symptoms of SSD according to DSM-5; that is, one or more burdensome somatic symptoms (A criterion), excessive symptom- or illness-related concern, anxiety, or behaviour (B criterion), and persistence of the symptoms over at least 6 months (C criterion). Statistical analysis used means and confidence intervals of estimated patient proportions showing SSD symptoms. Frequency of full-blown SSD was based on the products of these proportions calculated for each GP.
resultsResponses from 1728 GPs were obtained. GPs saw the clinical symptoms of SSD fulfilled (A and B criteria) in 21.5% (95% CI: 20.6 to 22.3) of their patients. They further estimated that in 24.3% (95% CI: 23.3 to 25.2) of patients, symptoms would persist, yielding a total of 7.7% (95% CI: 7.1 to 8.4) of patients to have a full-blown SSD.
conclusionsWe estimate a frequency of 7.7% of patients in general practice to fulfil the diagnostic criteria of SSD. This number may figure as a reference for the yet to be uncovered prevalence of SSD and it indicates a high clinical relevance of the clinical symptoms of SSD in general practice. REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register (Deutschen Register Klinischer Studien, DRKS). DRKS-ID: DRKS00012942. The date the study was registered: October 2nd 2017. The date the first participant was enrolled: February 9th 2018.
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