Thirty Years of the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR): A Systematic Review and Discussion of Clinical Implications

Objective: This is the first systematic review on the prevalence and clinical characteristics of 14 syndromes included in the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) across different settings.

Data Sources: A systematic search was conducted using Web of Science to identify all English-language citing articles for DCPR key references (from 1995 to 2025). A manual search of the literature was also performed.

Study Selection: Studies were eligible if they reported the prevalence and clinical characteristics of the DCPR syndromes. The initial search identified 604 reports. After removing duplicates, 524 reports were screened, and 375 full-text articles were examined. Ninety-six studies met the criteria for inclusion in the systematic review.

Data Extraction and Synthesis: Data on sample size, number of cases and prevalence of each DCPR syndrome, setting, assessment methods and time(s), and overlaps between DCPR and DSM/ICD were extracted. Studies were grouped according to clinical domains (ie, stress and psychological manifestations, illness behavior and somatization, personality features). Results were reported as median prevalence and range for each DCPR syndrome based on available studies.

Results: DCPR syndromes were found to be common in clinical settings, with higher prevalence than psychiatric diagnoses. The DCPR allowed identification of allostatic overload, demoralization, irritable mood, illness behavior, and various manifestations of somatization that otherwise would have gone undetected using standard diagnostic methods.

Conclusions: Findings from this systematic review indicate that the DCPR are an essential integration to the customary psychiatric taxonomy, particularly in the setting of medical disease, with prognostic and therapeutic implications. The DCPR provide a unique clinimetric framework for optimal use of clinical judgment.