Somatic symptom severity association with healthcare utilization and costs in surgical inpatients with an episode of abdominal pain

Abstract

Background: Somatic syndromes are present in 30 per cent of primary healthcare populations and are associated with increased health service use and health costs. Less is known about secondary care surgical inpatient populations. Methods: This was a prospective longitudinal cohort study (n = 465) of consecutive adult admissions with an episode of non-traumatic abdominal pain, to the Acute General Surgical Unit at a tertiary hospital in New South Wales, Australia. Somatic symptom severity (SSS) was dichotomized using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-15 with a cut-off point of 10 or higher (medium-high SSS) and compared pre-admission and during admission. Total healthcare utilization and ..