Detailed contribution information
| Contribution title | Characteristics of somatic symptom disorder in Japan |
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| Contribution code | D3.008 |
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| Form of presentation | Poster |
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| Abstract |
AIM: The prevalence of somatic symptom disorder in children is high. In Japan, unexplained somatic symptoms are often the leading cause of children's non-attendance at school and pediatrician visits. The Child Behavior Checklist(CBCL) is used as a screening tool for psychiatric disorders in children. This study aims to compare the characteristics of patients with somatic symptom disorder using the CBCL with those of other clinical subjects and to examine the usefulness of the CBCL as a diagnostic aid. Methods: The subjects were children consecutively referred to the child psychiatry outpatient clinic at a university hospital. Parents completed the CBCL at baseline, and DSM-5 diagnoses were based on semi-structured psychiatric interviews with the child and parent. SPSS version 25 was used for all statistical analyses. The Ethics Board approved this study. Results: During the study period, their parents completed the CBCLs of 92 patients. Twenty-three patients met any of the diagnostic criteria for somatic symptom disorder. However, there were no statistically significant differences in the CBCL total score or the CBCL internalizing and externalizing subscales between somatic symptom disorder and non-somatic symptom disorder patients. Pearson correlation results showed that CBCL intrinsic subscale scores were associated with physical complaints in SD patients (p< 0.05). Conclusions This study demonstrates that the CBCL is useful in assessing somatic symptom disorder in the pediatric outpatient setting. |