Illness perception in patients with somatic symptom disorder:a qualitative study / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the perception and evaluation of patients with somatic symptom disorder about their own diseases and treatment,and to provide theoretical basis for design of illness percep-tion questionnaire for patients with somatic symptoms disorder. Methods A semi-structured interview was conducted among 15 initial and untreated patients with somatic symptom disorder using the descriptive quali-tative study. The data were sorted,encoded,classified,summarized and refined using MAXQDA10 software. Results Three main themes and six sub-themes of illness perception in patients with somatic symptom dis-order were analyzed and sorted out(1) symptom recognitionincluding three sub-themes,low understanding of the disease and denial of somatic symptoms as mental illness;(2)drug taking concernsincluding two sub-themes worrying about side effects of drugs,drug addiction and having difficulty to stick to the long-term reg-ular medication;(3)emotional reactionincluding the obvious negative emotions of depression and helpless-ness sub-theme. Conclusion Patients with somatic symptom disorder have a general bias in illness percep-tion,which has a potential adverse effect on treatment compliance. Therefore,it is necessary for clinical med-ical staff to early estimate patients’illness perception,and carry out mental health education and rational e-motional behavior therapy.