A Retrospective Study on Demographic Variables in Patients with Somatoform Disorders Conducted at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Psychosomatic Clinic, Vidarbha

Introduction: Patients with somatoform abnormalities experience severe emotional suffering, and clinicians face a difficult task. Women tend to be more susceptible to somatization disorder than males. They are said to be more common in rural regions and among those with less education. Materials and Methods: 270 patients with any of the subtypes of somatoform disorders were recruited from the out-patient and in-patient services of the Department of Psychiatry, which is linked with the AVBRH, a tertiary care hospital in Vidarbha. It was a cross- sectional study carried out from October 2010 to July 2012.

Results: The study found the greatest number of patients in the 60 to 80 year old age group (48.88 percent), followed by the 40 to 60 year old age group (27.77 percent), with a slight female preponderance (56.67 percent). Females experienced a somatoform condition for a longer period of time than males (4.48 years vs. 3.97 years). In our study, majority of patients with somatization disorder were married (88.9%) followed by widow/widower (7.4%); single (4.1%) and separated (1.9%). Also, majority of patients in our study were Illiterate (20.0%); followed by primary educated (10.0%); secondary educated (40%) and 30% patients were graduates.

Conclusion: Females in their forties and fifties are more likely to be afflicted by somatoform diseases, and they suffer for a much longer amount of time.