Prevalence of somatoform disorder among patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease at Bach Mai Hospital
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Abstract
Somatoform disorder is increasingly recognized as a comorbidity in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), yet such evidence remains limited in Viet Nam. As such, this cross-sectional study on 185 outpatients diagnosed with GERD (ICD-10 K21) at Bach Mai Hospital from July 2025 to October 2026 was conducted to describe somatoform disorder prevalence and its characteristics. Screening was performed with SSD-12, diagnosis with ICD-10 F45, combined with PHQ-9, GAD-7, PSS-10, EHAS, FSSG, and GERD-HRQL. Mean age was 47.3 ± 13.8 years old; female patients represented 56.8%; median GERD duration was 2.0 years; overall poor PPI response was 58.4%. Somatoform disorder prevalence by ICD-10 F45 was 45.9% (85/185; 95% CI: 38.9 – 53.1%); SSD-12 ≥ 16 was 41.6%. Within the somatoform disorder group, F45.1 and F45.0 accounted for 69.4%. The somatoform disorder group had on average 3.4 ± 1.5 organ systems with frequent somatic symptoms, 70.6% with ≥ 3 systems; high psychiatric comorbidity burden (GAD-7 10.8; PHQ-9 10.2; PSS-10 22.8; EHAS 38.0); GERD-HRQL 41.4 ± 13.6; poor PPI response 82.4%. Somatoform disorder reached nearly half of the tertiary outpatient GERD population, with predominance of F45.1 and F45.0 and high psychiatric comorbidity burden suggesting the need for mental health screening in routine gastrointestinal examinations.
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Keywords
somatoform disorder, gastroesophageal reflux disease, , psychiatric comorbidity, SSD-12, ICD-10 F45, Bach Mai Hospital
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