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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry

Sec. Psychological Therapy and Psychosomatics

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1519492

Psychotic symptoms in Chinese patients with somatic symptom disorder: prevalence, risk factors, and associated conditions

Provisionally accepted
Hong Tang Hong Tang 1*Yuan Jiamei Yuan Jiamei 1Yunhui Zhong Yunhui Zhong 2Yibo Li Yibo Li 3Yuanping Liao Yuanping Liao 2Yunhui Zhong Yunhui Zhong 1
  • 1 Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, China
  • 2 The Third People's Hospital of Ganzhou, Ganzhou, China
  • 3 Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, Tianjin Municipality, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Psychotic symptoms are prevalent in individuals with various mental health disorders and frequently lead to adverse outcomes. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of psychotic symptoms and its associated conditions in a large sample of Chinese patients with somatic symptom disorder (SSD), which has not been examined systemically. We recruited 899 patients with SSD. We used the positive subscale of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale to assess psychotic symptoms in the participants. We evaluated the participants using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS).The prevalence of psychotic symptoms in participants was 10.2%. Compared with participants without psychotic symptoms, participants with psychotic symptoms had higher scores on the HAMD, HAMA and PSS scales and a shorter sleep duration. Based on the results of stepwise binary logistic regression analysis, the HAMA, HAMD and PSS were significantly associated with psychotic symptoms in the participants. Our findings suggest that psychotic symptoms are common in patients with SSD in the Chinese Han population. In addition, greater levels of anxiety, depression, and stress are potentially useful markers for predicting a greater risk of psychotic symptoms.

    Keywords: psychotic symptoms, Somatic symptom disorder, Risk factors, Anxiety, Depression, stress

    Received: 30 Oct 2024; Accepted: 29 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Tang, Jiamei, Zhong, Li, Liao and Zhong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Hong Tang, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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