Abstract
Nearly 15% of patients referred to a general hospital psychological medicine consultation ser vice met DSM criteria for somatoform disorders or showed psychological factors affecting physical conditions. In a case-control control study of patients meeting these diagnostic criteria, outcomes were compared of 21 consecutively referred patients who received a course of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in addition to standard hospital treatment (SHT) and another 21 patients who received SHT alone. Compared with the SHT group, those who received CBT treatment showed significantly decreased bodily complaints and negative mood, better insight into the psychosomatic causes of their complaints, and a high motivation for subsequent psychotherapy, (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc.
Ehlert, Ulrike