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The importance of somatic symptoms in depression in primary care

The importance of somatic symptoms in depression in primary care
The importance of somatic symptoms in depression in primary care
OBJECTIVE: Patients with depression present with psychological and somatic symptoms, including general aches and pains. In primary care, somatic symptoms often dominate. A review of the literature was conducted to ascertain the importance of somatic symptoms in depression in primary care.
DATA SOURCES AND EXTRACTION: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsychLIT/PsychINFO databases (1985-January 2004) were searched for the terms depression, depressive, depressed AND physical, somatic, unexplained symptoms, complaints, problems; somatised, somatized symptoms; somatisation, somatization, somatoform, psychosomatic; pain; recognition, under-recognition; diagnosis, underdiagnosis; acknowledgment, under-acknowledgment; treatment, undertreatment AND primary care, ambulatory care; primary physician; office; general practice; attribution, re-attribution; and normalising, normalizing. Only English-language publications and abstracts were considered.
STUDY SELECTION: More than 80 papers related to somatic symptoms in depression were identified using the content of their titles and abstracts.
DATA SYNTHESIS: Approximately two thirds of patients with depression in primary care present with somatic symptoms. These patients are difficult to diagnose, feel an increased burden of disease, rely heavily on health care services, and are harder to treat. Patient and physician factors that prevent discussion of psychological symptoms during consultations must be overcome.
CONCLUSIONS: Educational initiatives that raise awareness of somatic symptoms in depression and help patients to re-attribute these symptoms should help to improve the recognition of depression in primary care.
1523-5998
167-176
Tylee, André P.
3ab355a5-b988-4245-a558-687684778e10
Ghandi, Paul
37ed67f6-d86b-4637-aae6-277ef84b9bec
Tylee, André P.
3ab355a5-b988-4245-a558-687684778e10
Ghandi, Paul
37ed67f6-d86b-4637-aae6-277ef84b9bec

Tylee, André P. and Ghandi, Paul (2005) The importance of somatic symptoms in depression in primary care. Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 7 (4), 167-176.

Record type: Article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Patients with depression present with psychological and somatic symptoms, including general aches and pains. In primary care, somatic symptoms often dominate. A review of the literature was conducted to ascertain the importance of somatic symptoms in depression in primary care.
DATA SOURCES AND EXTRACTION: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsychLIT/PsychINFO databases (1985-January 2004) were searched for the terms depression, depressive, depressed AND physical, somatic, unexplained symptoms, complaints, problems; somatised, somatized symptoms; somatisation, somatization, somatoform, psychosomatic; pain; recognition, under-recognition; diagnosis, underdiagnosis; acknowledgment, under-acknowledgment; treatment, undertreatment AND primary care, ambulatory care; primary physician; office; general practice; attribution, re-attribution; and normalising, normalizing. Only English-language publications and abstracts were considered.
STUDY SELECTION: More than 80 papers related to somatic symptoms in depression were identified using the content of their titles and abstracts.
DATA SYNTHESIS: Approximately two thirds of patients with depression in primary care present with somatic symptoms. These patients are difficult to diagnose, feel an increased burden of disease, rely heavily on health care services, and are harder to treat. Patient and physician factors that prevent discussion of psychological symptoms during consultations must be overcome.
CONCLUSIONS: Educational initiatives that raise awareness of somatic symptoms in depression and help patients to re-attribute these symptoms should help to improve the recognition of depression in primary care.

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Published date: 2005

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 27732
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/27732
ISSN: 1523-5998
PURE UUID: b6d54736-e76e-4ddf-8851-9d1fb905103a

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Date deposited: 25 Apr 2006
Last modified: 09 Jan 2022 04:55

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Contributors

Author: André P. Tylee
Author: Paul Ghandi

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