Table 2.
Categorical and dimensional measures of psychopathology in patients with MUS compared to patients with MES.
| Patients with MUS | Patients with MES | Statistics | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 118) | (n = 154) | Univariate | Multivariate a | ||
| Psychopathology (MINI) | |||||
| Somatoform disorder | n (%) | 69 (58.5) | – | p < 0.001 | |
| Other psychiatric disorders | n (%) | 50 (42.4) | 38 (24.8) | OR = 2.2 [1.3–3.7], p = 0.002 | OR = 1.7 [1.0–3.0], p = 0.070 |
| Mood disorder | n (%) | 31 (26.3) | 32 (20.9) | OR = 1.3 [0.8–2.4], p = 0.302 | OR = 1.0 [0.5–1.9], p = 0.986 |
| Anxiety disorder | n (%) | 22 (18.6) | 13 (8.5) | OR = 2.5 [1.2–5.1], p = 0.016 | OR = 1.8 [0.8–4.0], p = 0.131 |
| Substance use disorder | n (%) | 6 (5.1) | 3 (2.0) | OR = 2.7 [0.6–10.9], p = 0.170 | OR = 2.1 [0.5–9.3], p = 0.347 |
| Adjustment disorder | n (%) | 4 (3.4) | – | p = 0.015 b | n.a. |
| Psychopathology dimensions | |||||
| Hypochondriasis (Whitely Index) | Mean (SD) | 4.3 (2.9) | 2.2 (2.4) | t = 6.3, df = 260, p < 0.001 | F = 32.0, df = 1,253, p < 0.001 |
| Depressive symptoms (IDS) | Mean (SD) | 20.8 (12.0) | 15.2 (9.2) | t = 4.2, df = 247, p < 0.001 | F = 8.2, df = 1,224, p = 0.005 |
| General anxiety (HADS-A) | Mean (SD) | 5.3 (4.0) | 3.4 (3.6) | t = 3.7, df = 236, p < 0.001 | F = 12.0, df = 1,235, p = 0.001 |
| BSI-53 total score | Mean (SD) | 0.57 (0.50) | 0.42 (0.38) | t = 2,6, df = 244, p = 0.011 | F = 5.1, df = 1,232, p = 0.025 |
| Somatization | Mean (SD) | 0.80 (0.65) | 0.52 (0.50) | t = 3.9, df = 244, p < 0.001 | F = 18.1, df = 1,232, p < 0.001 |
| Obsession–compulsion | Mean (SD) | 0.70 (0.72) | 0.65 (0.57) | t = 0.6, df = 244, p = 0.513 | F = 0.6, df = 1,232, p = 0.445 |
| Interpersonal sensitivity | Mean (SD) | 0.49 (0.58) | 0.40 (0.52) | t = 1.3, df = 244, p = 0.173 | F = 0.4, df = 1,232, p = 0.527 |
| Depression | Mean (SD) | 0.59 (0.70) | 0.40 (0.54) | t = 2.4, df = 244, p = 0.016 | F = 3.2, df = 1,232, p = 0.077 |
| Anxiety | Mean (SD) | 0.58 (0.72) | 0.32 (0.49) | t = 3.3, df = 244, p = 0.001 | F = 6.8, df = 1,233, p = 0.010 |
| Hostility | Mean (SD) | 0.34 (0.39) | 0.29 (0.32) | t = 1.2, df = 245, p = 0.232 | F = 1.6, df = 1,233, p = 0.207 |
| Phobic anxiety | Mean (SD) | 0.43 (0.59) | 0.29 (0.45) | t = 2.1, df = 245, p = 0.036 | F = 2.7, df = 1,233, p = 0.104 |
| Paranoid ideation | Mean (SD) | 0.52 (0.58) | 0.40 (0.53) | t = 1.6, df = 245, p = 0.113 | F = 1.1, df = 1,233, p = 0.286 |
| Psychoticism | Mean (SD) | 0.49 (0.59) | 0.35 (0.45) | t = 2.2, df = 245, p = 0.032 | F = 4.6, df = 1,233, p = 0.034 |
Abbreviations: BSI-53, Brief Symptom Inventory-53 item version; HADS-A, Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale-Anxiety subscale; IDS, Inventory of Depressive Symptoms; MES, medically explained symptoms; MINI, Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview; MUS, medically unexplained symptoms; SD, standard deviation.
a
Adjusted for age, sex, and level of education (low, middle, or high).
b
Logistic regression not applicable, and p value based on Fisher’s exact test.