Clinical utility of the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research for a comprehensive assessment of the elderly

Clin Psychol Psychother. 2022 Nov;29(6):1963-1971. doi: 10.1002/cpp.2766. Epub 2022 Jul 4.

Abstract

Introduction: According to the revised version of the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR-R), this study explored the prevalence and clinical correlates of DCPR-R psychosomatic syndromes in the elderly and tested whether DCPR-R provide an incremental contribution to the prediction of psychosocial functioning over and above DSM-5.

Method: One hundred seven elderly subjects were recruited. Participants received a clinical assessment, which included the DCPR-Revised Semi-Structured Interview (DCPR-R SSI), the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5-Clinician Version (SCID-5-CV), the Psychological Well-Being (PWB) Scales, the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) and hierarchical regression analyses were run.

Results: Twenty-two (20.6%) subjects had at least one DSM-5 diagnosis, and 62 (57.9%) reported at least one DCPR-R diagnosis. Subjects with at least one DCPR-R diagnosis showed lower PWB Personal Growth and PWB Purpose in Life than those without DCPR-R diagnoses. When the incremental validity of the DCPR-R was tested using PWB Personal Growth, PWB Purpose in Life, PWB Self-acceptance, GAS Cognitive symptoms and GAS affective symptoms subscales as criterion variable, the DCPR-R increased up to 0.135-0.263 the explained variance.

Conclusion: The DCPR-R might be implemented together with the DSM-5 to have a comprehensive assessment of elderly subjects.

Keywords: DCPR; Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research; assessment; elderly; psychosomatics.

MeSH terms

  • Affective Symptoms* / psychology
  • Aged
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
  • Humans
  • Prevalence
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Psychophysiologic Disorders* / diagnosis
  • Psychophysiologic Disorders* / epidemiology
  • Psychophysiologic Disorders* / psychology