Descriptive Epidemiology of Somatising Tendency: Findings from the CUPID Study.

Somatising tendency, defined as a predisposition to worry about common somatic symptoms, is importantly associated with various aspects of health and health-related behaviour, including musculoskeletal pain and associated disability. To explore its epidemiological characteristics, and how it can be...

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Main Authors: Sergio Vargas-Prada, David Coggon, Georgia Ntani, Karen Walker-Bone, Keith T Palmer, Vanda E Felli, Raul Harari, Lope H Barrero, Sarah A Felknor, David Gimeno, Anna Cattrell, Matteo Bonzini, Eleni Solidaki, Eda Merisalu, Rima R Habib, Farideh Sadeghian, M Masood Kadir, Sudath S P Warnakulasuriya, Ko Matsudaira, Busisiwe Nyantumbu, Malcolm R Sim, Helen Harcombe, Ken Cox, Leila M M Sarquis, Maria H Marziale, Florencia Harari, Rocio Freire, Natalia Harari, Magda V Monroy, Leonardo A Quintana, Marianela Rojas, E Clare Harris, Consol Serra, J Miguel Martinez, George Delclos, Fernando G Benavides, Michele Carugno, Marco M Ferrario, Angela C Pesatori, Leda Chatzi, Panos Bitsios, Manolis Kogevinas, Kristel Oha, Tiina Freimann, Ali Sadeghian, Roshini J Peiris-John, Nalini Sathiakumar, A Rajitha Wickremasinghe, Noriko Yoshimura, Helen L Kelsall, Victor C W Hoe, Donna M Urquhart, Sarah Derrett, David McBride, Peter Herbison, Andrew Gray, Eduardo J Salazar Vega
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2016-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0153748&type=printable
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author Sergio Vargas-Prada
David Coggon
Georgia Ntani
Karen Walker-Bone
Keith T Palmer
Vanda E Felli
Raul Harari
Lope H Barrero
Sarah A Felknor
David Gimeno
Anna Cattrell
Matteo Bonzini
Eleni Solidaki
Eda Merisalu
Rima R Habib
Farideh Sadeghian
M Masood Kadir
Sudath S P Warnakulasuriya
Ko Matsudaira
Busisiwe Nyantumbu
Malcolm R Sim
Helen Harcombe
Ken Cox
Leila M M Sarquis
Maria H Marziale
Florencia Harari
Rocio Freire
Natalia Harari
Magda V Monroy
Leonardo A Quintana
Marianela Rojas
E Clare Harris
Consol Serra
J Miguel Martinez
George Delclos
Fernando G Benavides
Michele Carugno
Marco M Ferrario
Angela C Pesatori
Leda Chatzi
Panos Bitsios
Manolis Kogevinas
Kristel Oha
Tiina Freimann
Ali Sadeghian
Roshini J Peiris-John
Nalini Sathiakumar
A Rajitha Wickremasinghe
Noriko Yoshimura
Helen L Kelsall
Victor C W Hoe
Donna M Urquhart
Sarah Derrett
David McBride
Peter Herbison
Andrew Gray
Eduardo J Salazar Vega
author_facet Sergio Vargas-Prada
David Coggon
Georgia Ntani
Karen Walker-Bone
Keith T Palmer
Vanda E Felli
Raul Harari
Lope H Barrero
Sarah A Felknor
David Gimeno
Anna Cattrell
Matteo Bonzini
Eleni Solidaki
Eda Merisalu
Rima R Habib
Farideh Sadeghian
M Masood Kadir
Sudath S P Warnakulasuriya
Ko Matsudaira
Busisiwe Nyantumbu
Malcolm R Sim
Helen Harcombe
Ken Cox
Leila M M Sarquis
Maria H Marziale
Florencia Harari
Rocio Freire
Natalia Harari
Magda V Monroy
Leonardo A Quintana
Marianela Rojas
E Clare Harris
Consol Serra
J Miguel Martinez
George Delclos
Fernando G Benavides
Michele Carugno
Marco M Ferrario
Angela C Pesatori
Leda Chatzi
Panos Bitsios
Manolis Kogevinas
Kristel Oha
Tiina Freimann
Ali Sadeghian
Roshini J Peiris-John
Nalini Sathiakumar
A Rajitha Wickremasinghe
Noriko Yoshimura
Helen L Kelsall
Victor C W Hoe
Donna M Urquhart
Sarah Derrett
David McBride
Peter Herbison
Andrew Gray
Eduardo J Salazar Vega
author_sort Sergio Vargas-Prada
collection DOAJ
description Somatising tendency, defined as a predisposition to worry about common somatic symptoms, is importantly associated with various aspects of health and health-related behaviour, including musculoskeletal pain and associated disability. To explore its epidemiological characteristics, and how it can be specified most efficiently, we analysed data from an international longitudinal study. A baseline questionnaire, which included questions from the Brief Symptom Inventory about seven common symptoms, was completed by 12,072 participants aged 20-59 from 46 occupational groups in 18 countries (response rate 70%). The seven symptoms were all mutually associated (odds ratios for pairwise associations 3.4 to 9.3), and each contributed to a measure of somatising tendency that exhibited an exposure-response relationship both with multi-site pain (prevalence rate ratios up to six), and also with sickness absence for non-musculoskeletal reasons. In most participants, the level of somatising tendency was little changed when reassessed after a mean interval of 14 months (75% having a change of 0 or 1 in their symptom count), although the specific symptoms reported at follow-up often differed from those at baseline. Somatising tendency was more common in women than men, especially at older ages, and varied markedly across the 46 occupational groups studied, with higher rates in South and Central America. It was weakly associated with smoking, but not with level of education. Our study supports the use of questions from the Brief Symptom Inventory as a method for measuring somatising tendency, and suggests that in adults of working age, it is a fairly stable trait.
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spelling doaj-art-b2272052dc704085aaf20cfecb66c32d2025-08-20T03:24:29ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032016-01-01114e015374810.1371/journal.pone.0153748Descriptive Epidemiology of Somatising Tendency: Findings from the CUPID Study.Sergio Vargas-PradaDavid CoggonGeorgia NtaniKaren Walker-BoneKeith T PalmerVanda E FelliRaul HarariLope H BarreroSarah A FelknorDavid GimenoAnna CattrellMatteo BonziniEleni SolidakiEda MerisaluRima R HabibFarideh SadeghianM Masood KadirSudath S P WarnakulasuriyaKo MatsudairaBusisiwe NyantumbuMalcolm R SimHelen HarcombeKen CoxLeila M M SarquisMaria H MarzialeFlorencia HarariRocio FreireNatalia HarariMagda V MonroyLeonardo A QuintanaMarianela RojasE Clare HarrisConsol SerraJ Miguel MartinezGeorge DelclosFernando G BenavidesMichele CarugnoMarco M FerrarioAngela C PesatoriLeda ChatziPanos BitsiosManolis KogevinasKristel OhaTiina FreimannAli SadeghianRoshini J Peiris-JohnNalini SathiakumarA Rajitha WickremasingheNoriko YoshimuraHelen L KelsallVictor C W HoeDonna M UrquhartSarah DerrettDavid McBridePeter HerbisonAndrew GrayEduardo J Salazar VegaSomatising tendency, defined as a predisposition to worry about common somatic symptoms, is importantly associated with various aspects of health and health-related behaviour, including musculoskeletal pain and associated disability. To explore its epidemiological characteristics, and how it can be specified most efficiently, we analysed data from an international longitudinal study. A baseline questionnaire, which included questions from the Brief Symptom Inventory about seven common symptoms, was completed by 12,072 participants aged 20-59 from 46 occupational groups in 18 countries (response rate 70%). The seven symptoms were all mutually associated (odds ratios for pairwise associations 3.4 to 9.3), and each contributed to a measure of somatising tendency that exhibited an exposure-response relationship both with multi-site pain (prevalence rate ratios up to six), and also with sickness absence for non-musculoskeletal reasons. In most participants, the level of somatising tendency was little changed when reassessed after a mean interval of 14 months (75% having a change of 0 or 1 in their symptom count), although the specific symptoms reported at follow-up often differed from those at baseline. Somatising tendency was more common in women than men, especially at older ages, and varied markedly across the 46 occupational groups studied, with higher rates in South and Central America. It was weakly associated with smoking, but not with level of education. Our study supports the use of questions from the Brief Symptom Inventory as a method for measuring somatising tendency, and suggests that in adults of working age, it is a fairly stable trait.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0153748&type=printable
spellingShingle Sergio Vargas-Prada
David Coggon
Georgia Ntani
Karen Walker-Bone
Keith T Palmer
Vanda E Felli
Raul Harari
Lope H Barrero
Sarah A Felknor
David Gimeno
Anna Cattrell
Matteo Bonzini
Eleni Solidaki
Eda Merisalu
Rima R Habib
Farideh Sadeghian
M Masood Kadir
Sudath S P Warnakulasuriya
Ko Matsudaira
Busisiwe Nyantumbu
Malcolm R Sim
Helen Harcombe
Ken Cox
Leila M M Sarquis
Maria H Marziale
Florencia Harari
Rocio Freire
Natalia Harari
Magda V Monroy
Leonardo A Quintana
Marianela Rojas
E Clare Harris
Consol Serra
J Miguel Martinez
George Delclos
Fernando G Benavides
Michele Carugno
Marco M Ferrario
Angela C Pesatori
Leda Chatzi
Panos Bitsios
Manolis Kogevinas
Kristel Oha
Tiina Freimann
Ali Sadeghian
Roshini J Peiris-John
Nalini Sathiakumar
A Rajitha Wickremasinghe
Noriko Yoshimura
Helen L Kelsall
Victor C W Hoe
Donna M Urquhart
Sarah Derrett
David McBride
Peter Herbison
Andrew Gray
Eduardo J Salazar Vega
Descriptive Epidemiology of Somatising Tendency: Findings from the CUPID Study.
PLoS ONE
title Descriptive Epidemiology of Somatising Tendency: Findings from the CUPID Study.
title_full Descriptive Epidemiology of Somatising Tendency: Findings from the CUPID Study.
title_fullStr Descriptive Epidemiology of Somatising Tendency: Findings from the CUPID Study.
title_full_unstemmed Descriptive Epidemiology of Somatising Tendency: Findings from the CUPID Study.
title_short Descriptive Epidemiology of Somatising Tendency: Findings from the CUPID Study.
title_sort descriptive epidemiology of somatising tendency findings from the cupid study
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0153748&type=printable
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