Study of the association between functional somatic complaints and depression
European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine,
2022, Volume 9, Issue 3, Pages 1607-1614
Abstract
To study the functional somatic complaints (FSCs) associated with depression. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was done on 40 patients in a tertiary care hospital in Karnataka who were diagnosed to be having depression according to the ICD-10 DCR criteria. They were assessed on the Bradford Somatic Inventory (BSI) and the Montgomery- Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Results: Majority of the participants were married, Hindus, educated up to middle school level, employed and of lower socioeconomic background. Functional Somatic Complaints were significantly more common in females. All patients were found to be having a minimum of 4 FSCs. The most common FSC was lack of energy followed by pain/tension in the neck and shoulders, dryness of mouth/throat, severe headache, palpitations and increased sweating. The mean MADRS score of the study sample was 24.25 indicating that FSCs were more common in mild to moderate depression. Conclusion: Functional Somatic Complaints are highly prevalent in patients diagnosed with depression. Most of the patients have more than 10 FSCs and the type of FSCs aresimilar to a certain extent across different socio demographic and clinical variables. Hence, patients reporting to primary health centres with these multiple vague somatic complaints must be routinely evaluated for depression. A thorough psychiatric assessment with appropriate intervention would aid them for a better quality of life
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