Yq. Guo et al., Abnormal illness behavior of patients with functional somatic symptoms: relation to psychiatric disorders, GEN HOSP PS, 23(4), 2001, pp. 223-229
Functional somatic symptoms are highly associated with hypochondriasis, anx
iety, and depressive disorders. Despite the absence of an organic disorder,
underlying psychological distress of patients with functional somatic symp
toms may result in abnormal illness behavior such as inadequate treatment s
eeking or overuse of medical services. Using the Illness Behavior Questionn
aire (IBQ), we examined the illness behavior of Japanese patients visiting
a general medicine clinic whose physical symptoms were considered functiona
l. We used the General Health Questionnaire-30 to classify patients with fu
nctional somatic symptoms as those with and without psychological distress.
Patients with distress (n=35) reported more physical complaints and higher
IBQ scores than did patients without distress (n=22). The IBQ profile of p
atients with psychological distress was identical to that of patients diagn
osed with either hypochondriasis or major depression. The illness behavior
of patients without psychological distress was indistinguishable from that
of patients whose physical symptoms were attributed to organic disease. The
se results further support the hypothesis that functional somatic symptoms
may be associated with hypochondriasis and major depression, the pathology
of which may contribute to the development of abnormal illness behavior. (C
) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.