Child Abuse Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Child Abuse, including details on family violence, examinations, long-term effects, psychiatrics disorders.

Trauma prevalence and somatoform symptoms: are there specific somatoform symptoms related to traumatic experiences?

Sack M, Lahmann C, Jaeger B, Henningsen P

Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany. m.sack@tum.de

There is still insufficient knowledge on the subject of possibly specific patterns of somatoform symptoms related to sexual or nonsexual traumatizations. Using standardized questionnaires, a sample of 892 patients consecutively admitted to a psychotherapy outpatient clinic were evaluated for psychological symptoms in general, for somatoform symptoms and for history of traumatizations. Any severe lifetime trauma was reported in 67.8% of the total sample. Somatoform symptoms were notably more prevalent in traumatized patients when compared with nontraumatized patients. Descriptive data analysis revealed specific elevations of symptom frequencies for pseudoneurological symptoms and for symptoms associated with discomfort or dysfunction in sexual organs.

Published 16 November 2007 in J Nerv Ment Dis, 195(11): 928-33.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Child Abuse Research Today. All Rights Reserved.