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Related Experiment Videos

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for somatization disorder: a randomized controlled trial.

Lesley A Allen1, Robert L Woolfolk, Javier I Escobar

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA. allenla@umdnj.edu

Archives of Internal Medicine
|July 26, 2006
PubMed
Summary

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Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) significantly reduced somatization disorder symptoms and healthcare costs. This effective treatment offers benefits beyond standard care for patients with medically unexplained physical symptoms.

Area of Science:

  • Psychiatry
  • Psychology
  • Clinical Medicine

Background:

  • Somatization disorder (SD) presents a significant challenge due to medically unexplained physical symptoms.
  • Current treatments offer limited clinical improvement for SD patients.
  • The efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for SD requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in treating somatization disorder (SD).
  • To compare CBT augmented with psychiatric consultation to standard medical care plus psychiatric consultation for SD.

Main Methods:

  • Eighty-four SD participants were randomized to receive either standard care plus psychiatric consultation or CBT plus psychiatric consultation.
  • A manualized, 10-session CBT regimen was administered individually.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Outcomes were assessed at baseline and 3, 9, and 15 months using the Clinical Global Impression Scale for Somatization Disorder (CGI-SD) and other measures.

    • Main Results:

    • CBT significantly reduced somatization symptom severity (0.84 points on CGI-SD) after 15 months (P<.001).
    • Forty percent of patients receiving CBT showed significant improvement compared to 5% in the control group.
    • CBT led to greater improvements in self-reported functioning, somatic symptoms, and reduced healthcare costs.

    Conclusions:

    • Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) demonstrates significant clinical benefits for patients with somatization disorder.
    • CBT offers advantages over current standard treatments for SD.
    • This study supports CBT as a valuable intervention for managing SD.