TITLE:
Screening for Somatoform Disorders in Children and Adolescents
AUTHORS:
S. Winter, C. Quinn, K. Lenz, E. Pfeiffer, U. Lehmkuhl
KEYWORDS:
Somatoform Disorders in Children and Adolescents, Diagnostics, SOMS-CA, Sensitivity, Specificity
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.5 No.14,
September
30,
2014
ABSTRACT: Until now, no German diagnostic instrument existed for somatoform
disorders in children and adolescents. Therefore the Screening for Somatoform
Disorders in Children and Adolescents (SOMS-CA) was developed based on the
SOMS-2 (Screening for Somatoform Disorders 2) (Rief & Hiller, 2008). This
study investigates to what extent the SOMS-CA can differentiate significantly
between children and adolescents with clinically diagnosed somatoform disorders
and a control group and whether the SOMS-CA is superior to the GSCL-C (Giessen
Subjective Complaint List for Children) (Braehler, 1992). 30 patients (11 - 17 years) with somatoform
disorders and a control group (n = 31) were examined with the SOMS-CA (N = 61).
The results from the SOMS-CA in both groups were compared with one another by
means of a contingency analysis (chi-square test). The sensitivity and
specificity were calculated and an optimal cut-off value was determined
(Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (ROC-curve) analysis). A comparison
analysis of the ROC-curves of the SOMS-CA and the GSCL-C followed. The sum
score of complaints in the patients was significantly higher than that in the
control group. The ROC-curve for the SOMS-CA demonstrates its excellent ability
to differentiate between the two groups with an AUC (area under the curve) =
0.983 (SE = 0.14; N = 61). The sensitivity was 97.6%, the specificity 96.8%. In
comparison to the AUC of the GSCL-C the SOMS-CA shows a much higher result. The
SOMS-CA successfully identifies patients with somatoform disorders from a
paediatric population and differentiates from healthy test subjects. A
comparison to the GSCL-C shows a considerable superiority of the SOMS-CA.
Further studies on the validity of the SOMS-CA are necessary.