Somatization Disorder and Briquet's Syndrome

Authors:
  • CDCherilyn DeSouza
    Cherilyn DeSouza
  • EOEkkehard Othmer
    Ekkehard Othmer
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Abstract
• Somatization disorder (SD) as defined byDSM-IIIis a modification of criteria previously established to define Briquet's disorder (BD). We examined whether the less stringent SD criteria identify the same patient population as the more stringent BD criteria. All psychiatric female outpatients who reported having multiple unexplained physical problems prior to the age of 30 years were included in the study. Eighty-five (10.7%) of 794 patients fulfilled these screening criteria. Of the 85 patients, 41 had both SD and BD. Thirty-six patients did not have either disorder. The results indicate that theDSM-IIIcriteria for SD are equally effective in identifying patients with BD but considerably less time-consuming and cumbersome to apply.

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