Somatic symptoms. A major feature of depression in a family practice

The complaints of depressed patients were investigated in a private, single-physician family practice clinic. Complaints and visits of depressives were compared to those of age- and sex-matched non-depressed controls over a period of 3 years beginning 18 months prior to the diagnosis of depression. Pain, functional and anxiety complaints signalled the onset and paralleled the course of depression. Somatic complaints were a conspicuous mode of presentation in this family practice. These somatic features are not among the usual diagnostic and research criteria for depression (DSM-III, Feighner Criteria and RDC) although they appear to be a major feature in the natural history of depression.