[A clinical study of hypochondriac symptoms in patients with depression]

In this study, the authors investigated the features of depression associated with hypochondriac symptoms. The subjects were inpatients of the psychiatry clinic of Jichi Medical School who were clinical diagnosed with depression and enrolled in the study between June 1, 1997, and June 30, 1999. Of 86 subjects enrolled, 49 exhibited hypochondriac symptoms ("hypochondriac group"). Patients in the hypochondriac group tended to be older at diagnosis and admission than those in the "non-hypochondriac group". Our findings suggested that symptoms of both hypochondriasis and depression are related to situational, psychological and organizational factors. As many patients consulted health professionals in specialties other than psychiatry, we emphasize that primary-care doctors need to keep the possibility of depression in mind when examining patients. The frequency of delusions associated with depression was higher in the hypochondriac group than in the non-hypochondriac group. We therefore suggest that hypochondriac attitudes are related to the three major diagnostic features in depressive delusions. Many hypochondriac subjects complained of constipation and pain as concrete symptoms, but the sites of hypochondriac symptoms showed considerable variation. In terms of symptoms of pain, however, affected sites were more localized, with many patients reporting headache or lumbago.