Sebastian Kohlmann

The Somatic Symptom Scale–8 (SSS-8): A Brief Measure of Somatic Symptom Burden

IMPORTANCE Somatic symptoms are the core features of many medical diseases, and they are used to evaluate the severity and course of illness. The 8-item Somatic Symptom Scale (SSS-8) was recently developed as a brief, patient-reported outcome measure of somatic symptom burden, but its reliability, validity, and usefulness have not yet been tested. OBJECTIVE To investigate the reliability, validity, and severity categories as well as the reference scores of the SSS-8. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A national, representative general-population survey was performed between June 15, 2012, and July 15, 2012, in Germany, including 2510 individuals older than 13 years. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The SSS-8 mean (SD), item-total correlations, Cronbach α, factor structure, associations with measures of construct validity (Patient Health Questionnaire-2 depression scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 scale, visual analog scale for general health status, 12-month health care use), severity categories, and percentile rank reference scores. RESULTS The SSS-8 had excellent item characteristics and good reliability (Cronbach α = 0.81). The factor structure reflects gastrointestinal, pain, fatigue, and cardiopulmonary aspects of the general somatic symptom burden. Somatic symptom burden as measured by the SSS-8 was significantly associated with depression (r = 0.57 [95% CI, 0.54 to 0.60]), anxiety (r = 0.55 [95% CI, 0.52 to 0.58]), general health status (r = -0.24 [95% CI, -0.28 to -0.20]), and health care use (incidence rate ratio, 1.12 [95% CI, 1.10 to 1.14]). The SSS-8 severity categories were calculated in accordance with percentile ranks: no to minimal (0-3 points), low (4-7 points), medium (8-11 points), high (12-15 points), and very high (16-32 points) somatic symptom burden. For every SSS-8 severity category increase, there was a 53% (95% CI, 44% to 63%) increase in health care visits. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The SSS-8 is a reliable and valid self-report measure of somatic symptom burden. Cutoff scores identify individuals with low, medium, high, and very high somatic symptom burden.

Somatic Symptoms in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Quality of Life

ings on the ointment-treated site and the untreated site, was compared between the positive and the negative treatment history groups. In addition, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed to assess pain-related brain activity as a physiological measure of analgesia. Specifically, we tested whether the difference in pain-related responses between the treated and untreated sites differed depending on treatment history (interaction effects). The fMRI data were analyzed using SPM8 (http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/spm/). The study was approved by the local ethics committee.

The overlap of somatic, anxious and depressive syndromes: A population-based analysis.

OBJECTIVE The comorbidity of somatic, anxious and depressive syndromes occurs in half of all primary care cases. As research on this overlap of syndromes in the general population is scarce, the present study investigated the prevalence of the overlapping syndromes and their association with health care use. METHOD A national general population survey was conducted between June and July 2012. Trained interviewers contacted participants face-to-face, during which, individuals reported their health care use in the previous 12months. Somatic, anxious and depressive syndromes were assessed using the Somatic Symptom Scale-8 (SSS-8), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 (GAD-2) and Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) respectively. RESULTS Out of 2510 participants, 236 (9.4%) reported somatic (5.9%), anxious (3.4%) or depressive (4.7%) syndromes, which were comorbid in 86 (3.4%) cases. The increase in the number of syndromes was associated with increase in health care visits (no syndrome: 3.18 visits vs. mono syndrome: 5.82 visits vs. multi syndromes: 14.16 visits, (F(2,2507)=149.10, p<0.00001)). Compared to each somatic (semi-partial r2=3.4%), anxious (semi-partial r2=0.82%) or depressive (semi-partial r2=0.002%) syndrome, the syndrome overlap (semi-partial r2=6.6%) explained the greatest part of variance of health care use (change_inR2=11.2%, change_inF(3,2499)=112.81, p<0.001.) CONCLUSIONS: The overlap of somatic, anxious and depressive syndromes is frequent in the general population but appears to be less common compared to primary care populations. To estimate health care use in the general population the overlap of somatic, anxious and depressive syndromes should be considered.

Social exclusion and shame in obesity

Weight bias often results in the social exclusion of individuals with obesity. The direct, short-term psychological effects of social exclusion in obesity have not been investigated yet. This study experimentally tests whether social exclusion elicits stronger negative emotions in individuals with obesity compared to normal-weight controls. Specifically, we test whether social exclusion has a specific impact on shame. In total, N=299 individuals (n=130 with body mass index [BMI]≤30 and n=169 with BMI>30) were randomly assigned to a social exclusion condition or a control condition that was implemented with an online Cyberball paradigm. Before and after, they filled out questionnaires assessing state emotionality. Social exclusion increased negative emotionality in both groups compared to the control condition (p<0.001) according to a multivariate ANOVA. However, the interaction of group and social exclusion was also significant (p=0.035) and arose from a significant, specific increase of shame in the group with obesity during social exclusion (p<0.001, Cohens d=0.7). When faced with social exclusion, individuals with obesity do not respond with more intensive negative emotions in general compared to controls, but with a specific increase in shame. As social exclusion is frequent in individuals with obesity, psychological interventions focussing shame-related emotional distress could be crucial.

Expressive Suppression of Emotions and Overeating in Individuals with Overweight and Obesity.

Emotions have a considerable impact on eating behaviour; however, research addressing emotion regulation in obesity is rare. The present study is the first to investigate the association between emotional suppression and overeating in individuals with overweight. In total, 314 participants including 190 individuals with obesity filled in a cross-sectional online survey, which assessed emotional suppression, eating behaviour and psychopathology. A hierarchical linear regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with overeating. Individuals with obesity reported more frequent overeating compared with individuals without obesity. The habitual use of emotional suppression was associated with more overeating; however, this link was moderated by increased body mass index (BMI). The results suggest that suppression of emotional expression contributes to overeating and is maladaptive especially in individuals with obesity. Further research should longitudinally investigate the predictive value of emotional suppression on overweight, as the training of emotion regulation could contribute to treating obesity. Copyright

Depression screening with patient-targeted feedback in cardiology: DEPSCREEN-INFO randomised clinical trial

BACKGROUND International guidelines advocate depression screening in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and other chronic illnesses, but evidence is lacking. AIMS To test the differential efficacy of written patient-targeted feedback v. no written patient feedback after depression screening. METHOD Patients with CHD or hypertension from three cardiology settings were randomised and screened for depression (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01879111). Compared with the control group, where only cardiologists received written feedback, in the intervention group both cardiologists and patients received written feedback regarding depression status. Depression severity was measured 1 month (primary outcome) and 6 months after screening. RESULTS The control group (n = 220) and the patient-feedback group (n = 155) did not differ in depression severity 1 month after screening. Six months after screening, the patient-feedback group showed significantly greater improvements in depression severity and was twice as likely to seek information about depression compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS Patient-targeted feedback in addition to screening has a significant but small effect on depression severity after 6 months and may encourage patients to take an active role in the self-management of depression.

Base Rates of Depressive Symptoms in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease: An Individual Symptom Analysis.

Background Major depression is common in coronary heart disease (CHD) but challenging to diagnose. Instead of focusing on the overall diagnosis of depression, base rates of depressive symptoms could facilitate screening and management of psychopathology in CHD. The present study investigates the frequency of individual depressive symptoms in CHD and their impact on cardiac and subjective health. Methods In total, 1337 in- and outpatients with CHD were screened for depressive symptoms with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) at three different cardiac treatment sites. Tables stratified by age and gender were designed to illustrate base rates of depressive symptoms. Multiple regression analyses adjusted for sociodemographic and clinical data were conducted to test associations between individual depressive symptoms and quality of life as well impairment caused angina pectoris and dyspnea. Results During the last 14 days, more than half of patients reported a loss of energy (74.9%, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 70.6–79.2), sleeping problems (69.4%, 95% CI: 64.9–74.0), loss of interest (55.7%, 95% CI: 50.8–60.7). In contrast, psychomotor change (25.6%, 95%CI: 21.3–30.0), feelings of failure (21.9%, 95%CI: 17.7–26.0), suicidal ideations (14.1%, 95%CI: 10.7–17.6) were less frequently reported. Depending on the outcome, only particular depressive symptoms were highly associated with low quality of life and impairment caused by angina pectoris and dyspnea. Loss of energy was the only depressive symptom that reliably predicted all three outcomes. Conclusions Depressive symptoms in CHD are frequent but vary widely in terms of frequency. Findings underline the differential effects of individual depressive symptoms on cardiac health. Presented base rates of depressive symptoms offer clinicians a new way to judge the severity of individual depressive symptoms and to communicate individual PHQ-9 profiles with patients with respect to gender, age, cardiac symptoms and quality of life.

A European research network to improve diagnosis, treatment and care for patients with persistent somatic symptoms : Work report of the EURONET-SOMA conference series

Persistent somatic symptoms are common and complex phenomena which pose major challenges to psychosomatics and many other medical specialties across Europe. They are frequent and can affect every organ system [1], individuals of all ages, ethnic groups and socioeconomic strata [2]. Chronic courses of disorders are common [3] and significantly impair quality of life [4,5] and increase health care use [6] as well as health care costs [7]. The different concepts of persistent somatic symptoms across medical specialties, clinical psychology and in psychosomatic medicine itself impede an early diagnosis and treatment initiation. Practitioners in psychosomatic medicine are faced with the new diagnosis of “Somatic Symptom Disorder” in DSM-5 [8] and the suggested “Bodily Distress Disorder” in ICD-11 [9,10] which both no longer exclude the existence of underlying medical conditions. Etiological concepts of persistent somatic symptoms differ substantially between medical specialties. The lack of medical guidelines or specialized treatment options for persistent somatic symptoms in some European countries present additional challenges for practitioners and affected patients [11,12]. Available clinical guidelines (e.g., from Germany or the Netherlands) suggest a stepped-care approach for patients with persistent somatic symptoms [13,14] which often remains unimplemented in favor of medication use actually intended for the treatment of anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems [15]. Given that research efforts on persistent somatic symptoms would largely benefit from a more coordinated and collaborative approach across Europe, we have come to recognize the urgent need to establish a European research network. By bringing researchers from all over Europe to take a seat at the table, we sought to develop a joint research agenda to address the pressing needs for improvement in the recognition, diagnosis, explanation and treatment of patients with persistent somatic symptoms.

Depression screening with patient-targeted feedback in cardiology: The cost-effectiveness of DEPSCREEN-INFO

Background Although depression is common in patients with heart disease, screening for depression is much debated. DEPSCREEN-INFO showed that a patient-targeted feedback in addition to screening results in lower depression level six months after screening. The purpose of this analysis was to perform a cost-effectiveness analysis of DEPSCREEN-INFO. Methods Patients with coronary heart disease or arterial hypertension were included. Participants in both groups were screened for depression. Participants in the intervention group additionally received a patient-targeted feedback of their result and recommended treatment options. A cost-utility analysis using quality-adjusted life years (QALY) based on the EQ-5D was performed. The time horizon was 6 months. Resource utilization was assessed by a telephone interview. Multiple imputation using chained equations was used. Net-benefit regressions controlled for prognostic variables at baseline were performed to construct cost-effectiveness acceptability curves. Different sensitivity analyses were performed. Results 375 participants (intervention group: 155; control group: 220) were included at baseline. After 6 months, in the intervention group adjusted total costs were lower (-€2,098; SE: €1,717) and more QALY were gained (0.0067; SD: 0.0133); yet differences were not statistically significant. The probability of cost-effectiveness was around 80% independent of the willingness-to-pay (range: €0/QALY–€130,000/QALY). The results were robust. Conclusions A patient-targeted feedback in addition to depression screening in cardiology is cost-effective with a high probability. This underpins the use of the patient-targeted feedbacks and the PHQ-9 that are both freely available and easy to implement in routine care.

Monitoring somatic symptoms in patients with mental disorders: Sensitivity to change and minimal clinically important difference of the Somatic Symptom Scale – 8 (SSS-8)

OBJECTIVE The SSS-8 is a brief questionnaire for the assessment of somatic symptom burden. This study examines its sensitivity to change and the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) in patients with mental disorders. METHOD 55 outpatients with mental disorders completed the SSS-8 and measures of anxiety, depression, and disability before and after receiving treatment. Effect sizes and correlations between the change scores were calculated. The MCID was estimated using a one standard error of measurement threshold and the change in disability as an external criterion. RESULTS There was a medium decline in somatic symptom burden for the complete sample (n=55, dz=0.53) and a large decline in a subgroup with very high somatic symptom burden at baseline (n=11, dz=0.94). Decreases in somatic symptom burden were associated with decreases in anxiety (r=0.68, p<0.001), depression (r=0.62, p<0.001) and disability (r=0.51, p<0.001). The MCID was estimated as a 3-point decrease. CONCLUSION The SSS-8 is sensitive to change. A 3-point decrease reflects a clinically important improvement. Due to its brevity and sound psychometric properties, the SSS-8 is useful for monitoring somatic symptom burden.