Searching for a gastrointestinal subgroup within the somatoform disorders

The authors examined whether patients suffering from functional gastrointes tinal symptoms constitute a separate group within the broader concept of th e somatoform disorders. The authors compared 103 patients with a severe gas trointestinal syndrome, 220 patients with a somatization syndrome according to DSM-TC: and 250 clinical control subjects with nonsomatoform mental dis orders. The gastrointestinal group showed more catastrophizing thinking, co mplained more about autonomic sensations, felt bodily weaker was less toler ant towards bodily discomfort, had developed more hypochondriacal fears and behaviors, was more depressed, and was mole severely disabled in different areas of psychosocial functioning than the other groups. These differences , however, disappeared when general somatization was controlled for by anal ysis of covariance. Only a small effect related to dysfunctional cognitions remained specific to the gastrointestinal syndrome. Because these results do nor confirm the idea of an independent gastrointestinal syndrome, genera l mechanisms of somatization seem to play the dominant role.