High prevalence of somatisation in ICD-11 complex PTSD: A cross sectional cohort study

Background While research demonstrates that somatisation is highly correlated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the relationship between International Classification of Diseases 11th edition (ICD-11) PTSD, complex PTSD (CPTSD) and somatisation has not previously been determined. Objective To determine the relationship between frequency and severity of somatisation and ICD-11 PTSD/CPTSD. Method This cross-sectional study included 222 individuals recruited to the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH) PTSD cohort. We assessed rates of Patient Health Questionnaire 15 (PHQ-15) somatisation stratified by ICD-11 PTSD/CPTSD status. Path analysis was used to explore the relationship between PTSD/CPTSD and somatisation, including number of traumatic events, age, and gender as controls. Results 70% (58/83) of individuals with CPTSD had high PHQ-15 somatisation symptom severity compared with 48% (12/25) of those with PTSD (chi-square: 95.1, p value
Highlights • People with CPTSD had a higher prevalence of co-morbid somatisation. • People with CPTSD had a worse somatisation symptom severity. • The core features of PTSD predicted somatisation.