Characteristics of patients with somatoform pain disorder
Abstract Background Patients with somatoform pain experience physical pain that cannot be attributed to any underlying medical or physiological cause, and it is often thought to be related to psychological factors. Health professionals encounter difficulties identifying this specific type of chronic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of General and Family Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/jgf2.735 |
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| author | Lena Barth Linda Baumbach André Hajek Lutz Götzmann Katrin Feiks Michael Rufer Kyrill Schwegler Bianca Schwennen Kirstin Bernhardt Uwe Wutzler Paul Kaiser Lutz Wittmann Adrian Siegel |
| author_facet | Lena Barth Linda Baumbach André Hajek Lutz Götzmann Katrin Feiks Michael Rufer Kyrill Schwegler Bianca Schwennen Kirstin Bernhardt Uwe Wutzler Paul Kaiser Lutz Wittmann Adrian Siegel |
| author_sort | Lena Barth |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Patients with somatoform pain experience physical pain that cannot be attributed to any underlying medical or physiological cause, and it is often thought to be related to psychological factors. Health professionals encounter difficulties identifying this specific type of chronic pain, leading to suboptimal treatment strategies. Therefore, we aimed to describe the characteristics of patients with somatoform pain, to support the identification of affected patients. Methods We collected and analyzed a cross‐sectional survey data from 200 patients with somatoform pain admitted to one of three psychosomatic centers in Germany between August 2013 and July 2014. The survey contains 10 different categories, all of them referring to pain‐related topics. Within the survey, we analyzed validated as well as non‐validated questionnaires. Here, we present the following five: Personal data, Body: Pain perception, Cognition: Pain processing, Pain behavior, and Physical complaints. Results Our results highlight that most patients with somatoform pain experience it in several body parts and as persisting, lasting >12 h/day (50%), and constantly changing (71%). Furthermore, patients indicate feelings of helplessness, by agreeing to the expressions the pain controls me (70%). Finally, we found that pain is predominantly seen as suffering, failing to convey emotional pain, despite cognitively acknowledging the dependency of emotional and physical pain. Conclusion The study identified specific and distinctive characteristics in the emotional and behavioral responses of patients with somatoform pain, potentially distinguishing them from other patients with chronic pain. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-29efee9a1c0d452198370532e2857763 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2189-7948 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of General and Family Medicine |
| spelling | doaj-art-29efee9a1c0d452198370532e28577632025-01-06T16:06:17ZengWileyJournal of General and Family Medicine2189-79482025-01-01261657210.1002/jgf2.735Characteristics of patients with somatoform pain disorderLena Barth0Linda Baumbach1André Hajek2Lutz Götzmann3Katrin Feiks4Michael Rufer5Kyrill Schwegler6Bianca Schwennen7Kirstin Bernhardt8Uwe Wutzler9Paul Kaiser10Lutz Wittmann11Adrian Siegel12Department of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg Hamburg GermanyDepartment of Health Economics and Health Services Research University Medical Center Hamburg‐Eppendorf Hamburg GermanyDepartment of Health Economics and Health Services Research University Medical Center Hamburg‐Eppendorf Hamburg GermanyInstitute of Philosophy, Psychoanalysis and Cultural Studies (IPPK) Berlin GermanyDepartment of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Segeberger Kliniken Bad Segeberg GermanyDepartment of Psychiatry University Hospital of Zuerich Zürich SwitzerlandDepartment of Psychosomatic Medicine Inselspital Bern SwitzerlandKlinik für Psychosomatische Medizin Und Psychotherapie MediClin Seepark Klinik Bad Bodenteich GermanyBlomenburg Privatklinik Selent GermanyAsklepios Fachklinikum Stadtroda, Psychotherapie Und Psychosomatik Stadtroda GermanyDepartment of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg Hamburg GermanyInternational Psychoanalytic University Berlin GermanyNeurozentrum Thalwil Zürich SwitzerlandAbstract Background Patients with somatoform pain experience physical pain that cannot be attributed to any underlying medical or physiological cause, and it is often thought to be related to psychological factors. Health professionals encounter difficulties identifying this specific type of chronic pain, leading to suboptimal treatment strategies. Therefore, we aimed to describe the characteristics of patients with somatoform pain, to support the identification of affected patients. Methods We collected and analyzed a cross‐sectional survey data from 200 patients with somatoform pain admitted to one of three psychosomatic centers in Germany between August 2013 and July 2014. The survey contains 10 different categories, all of them referring to pain‐related topics. Within the survey, we analyzed validated as well as non‐validated questionnaires. Here, we present the following five: Personal data, Body: Pain perception, Cognition: Pain processing, Pain behavior, and Physical complaints. Results Our results highlight that most patients with somatoform pain experience it in several body parts and as persisting, lasting >12 h/day (50%), and constantly changing (71%). Furthermore, patients indicate feelings of helplessness, by agreeing to the expressions the pain controls me (70%). Finally, we found that pain is predominantly seen as suffering, failing to convey emotional pain, despite cognitively acknowledging the dependency of emotional and physical pain. Conclusion The study identified specific and distinctive characteristics in the emotional and behavioral responses of patients with somatoform pain, potentially distinguishing them from other patients with chronic pain.https://doi.org/10.1002/jgf2.735chronic painfunctional somatic symptomspsychotherapyquality of lifesomatoform pain |
| spellingShingle | Lena Barth Linda Baumbach André Hajek Lutz Götzmann Katrin Feiks Michael Rufer Kyrill Schwegler Bianca Schwennen Kirstin Bernhardt Uwe Wutzler Paul Kaiser Lutz Wittmann Adrian Siegel Characteristics of patients with somatoform pain disorder Journal of General and Family Medicine chronic pain functional somatic symptoms psychotherapy quality of life somatoform pain |
| title | Characteristics of patients with somatoform pain disorder |
| title_full | Characteristics of patients with somatoform pain disorder |
| title_fullStr | Characteristics of patients with somatoform pain disorder |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characteristics of patients with somatoform pain disorder |
| title_short | Characteristics of patients with somatoform pain disorder |
| title_sort | characteristics of patients with somatoform pain disorder |
| topic | chronic pain functional somatic symptoms psychotherapy quality of life somatoform pain |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/jgf2.735 |
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