Abstract
(1) Background: Functional somatic symptoms (FSS) are physical symptoms that cannot be fully explained by medical diagnosis, injuries, and medication intake. More than the presence of unexplained symptoms, this condition is associated with functional disabilities, psychological distress, increased use of health services, and it has been linked to depressive and anxiety disorders. Recognizing the difficulty of diagnosing individuals with FSS and the impact on public health systems, this study aimed to verify the concomitant incidence of psychopathological symptoms and FSS in Portugal. (2) Methods: For this purpose, 93 psychosomatic outpatients (91.4% women with a mean age of 53.9 years old) and 101 subjects from the general population (74.3% women with 37.8 years old) were evaluated. The survey questionnaire included the 15-item Patient Health Questionnaire, the 20-Item Short Form Survey, the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, and questions on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. (3) Results: Increases in FSS severity were correlated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. The findings also suggest that increased rates of FSS are associated with lower educational level and female gender. (4) Conclusion: Being aware of the relationship between FSS and psychopathological symptoms and the need to explore psychosocial issues during clinical interviews may favor early detection of these cases. The early detection of mental disorders is essential for individuals’ adherence to treatments, reflecting on healthcare costs.
Highlights
Functional somatic symptoms (FSS) refer to persistent bodily symptoms that lead individuals to seek health care, and that no organic pathology is found that explains such symptoms [1,2,3,4]
Some studies have found that greater somatic symptoms are associated with lower educational level [13,14,22], while others have found an association with higher educational level [10]; studies have indicated that older individuals have a higher rate of FSS [8], while others have found the opposite [12,13]; and, studies have presented gender and income as relevant factors [13,22], others have found no relationship between these variables and the severity of FSS [1,11,12]
All analyses were performed with IBM SPSS® 22.0 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). Both samples were consisted predominantly of women: the clinical group consisted of 91.4% (n = 85) of women, and the general population consisted of 74.3% (n = 75) of women
Summary
Functional somatic symptoms (FSS) refer to persistent bodily symptoms that lead individuals to seek health care, and that no organic pathology is found that explains such symptoms [1,2,3,4]. In addition to the relationship of FSS with mental disorders, studies have shown a significant influence of sociodemographic characteristics on the severity of the condition presented by individuals with FSS [10,21,22]. Some studies have found that greater somatic symptoms are associated with lower educational level [13,14,22], while others have found an association with higher educational level [10]; studies have indicated that older individuals have a higher rate of FSS [8], while others have found the opposite [12,13]; and, studies have presented gender and income as relevant factors [13,22], others have found no relationship between these variables and the severity of FSS [1,11,12]. “somatic presentations can be viewed as expressions of personal suffering inserted in a cultural and social context” [24] (p. 310)
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