Somatization Disorder and Undifferentiated Somatoform Disorder Diagnostic Issues

Recognizing Somatization Disorder and Undifferentiated Somatoform Disorder as Diagnostic Possibilities
The diagnoses of somatization disorder and undifferentiated somatoform disorder are often missed in patients. To make a correct diagnosis, the diagnostician first must be willing to consider that either of these disorders could be a possibility. In determining the prevalence of these disorders, three separate populations should be considered: the general population, patients seen in primary care and general hospitals, and patients being treated in the specialty care sector.

Somatization Disorder Somatization disorder is relatively rare in the general population, according to the results of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) study. ECA investigators estimated that 0.13% of the general population - or about 1 person in every 1,000 - had somatization disorder. ECA investigators at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, used a somewhat different methodology from that used at the other ECA sites and found the prevalence of the disorder in the Piedmont region of North Carolina to be approximately 0.4%. Previous estimates were in the range of 0.4%-2.0% of the population. However, these estimates from the ECA data likely underestimate the true prevalence of somatization disorder because of the limitations of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, the instrument used to make the diagnoses in the ECA study.