Neurocognitive functioning in women presenting with undifferentiated somatoform disorders in Oman.
OBJECTIVE
There is a dearth of research from non-Western populations focusing on neurocognitive functioning in patients presenting with undifferentiated somatoform disorders. The aim of the present quest is to examine the presence of cognitive impairment and other health-related parameters among attendees at psychiatric settings in Oman, an Arab/Islamic country, with a diagnosis of undifferentiated somatoform disorder.


METHODS
In order to compare the performance of patients diagnosed with undifferentiated somatoform disorder (n = 20) and normal healthy subjects (n = 18) on indices of attention and concentration, tests of executive functioning, mood, somatization and vegetative functioning were carried out.


RESULTS
The performance of patients with undifferentiated somatoform disorder differed from that of normal healthy subjects on the presently operationalized indices of working memory and executive functioning, anxiety, quality of sleep and psychosomatically expressed psychological distress.


CONCLUSIONS
To our knowledge, this is the first study highlighting neurocognitive functioning in patients with undifferentiated somatoform disorders from a non-Western population. This type of study has the potential of shedding light on the covariates of such a debilitating and intransigent condition as undifferentiated somatoform disorder.
Al-Adawi
Samir
S
Department of Behavioral Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. adawi@squ.edu.om
Al-Zakwani
Ibrahim
I
Obeid
Yousif A
YA
Zaidan
Ziad
Z
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D008606:Mental Processes; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009850:Oman; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult