Psychological profile of somatizing patients attending the integrative clinic.
OBJECTIVE
A clinic to evaluate and treat referred somatizing patients was established in the medicine clinic of a university medical center.


METHODS
Fifty-four patients were evaluated and compared to an age- and sex-matched non-somatizing patient group.


RESULTS
Somatizing patients had increased rates of psychiatric and alcohol and substance abuse histories. Somatizing patients scored high on all subscales of the SCL-90 and were most frequently found in the Anxious/Moody Cluster of the MBHI. These patients also endorsed highly beliefs in medical problems as a focus of their lives.


CONCLUSIONS
These patients' psychological beliefs set the stage for conflict in the medical setting. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to liaison clinics, early identification, and treatment approaches.
Dickson
L R
LR
Psychiatry Department, University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington 40535-0080.
Hays
L R
LR
Kaplan
C
C
Scherl
E
E
Abbott
S
S
Schmitt
F
F
D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000458:organization & administration; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology