TACTUAL SENSITIVITY IN HYPOCHONDRIASIS

Background: In his article on amplification, somatization and somatofo rm disorders Barsky [Psychosomatics 1992;33:28-34] pointed out the imp ortance of studying the perception and processing of somatic and visce ral symptoms. Subsequently, it was demonstrated that hypochondriacal p atients are not more accurately aware of cardiac activity than a group of non-hypochondriacal patients. Authors concluded that hypochondriac al somatic complaints do not result from an unusually fine discriminat ive ability to detect normal physiological sensations that non-hypocho ndriacal patients are unable to perceive. The aim of the present study was to Investigate tactual sensitivity to non-painful stimuli In hypo chondriacal patients and healthy subjects. Methods: Twenty-seven outpa tients with DSM-III-R hypochondriasis and 27 healthy control subjects were compared. In all subjects the two-point discrimination threshold was measured, as well as subjective sensitivity to harmless bodily sen sations as measured by the Somatosensory Amplification Scale. Results: It was found that hypochondriacal patients reported more distress and discomfort with benign bodily sensations. The two-point discriminatio n threshold of hypochondriacal patients was not significantly lower in patients as compared to controls. Conclusions: Hypochondriacal subjec ts considered themselves more sensitive to benign bodily sensations wi thout being better able to discriminate between two tactual bodily sig nals. These findings of the present study correspond quite closely to those reported earlier.