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www.mja.com.au | Expert rating of diagnostic usefulness of somatisation
symptoms14
Most useful (common; patient insists cause is physical): Back pain, chest pain, muscular pain, dyspepsia, palpitations Useful (common; patients tend to accept a psychological explanation): Tension headaches, inability to relax, epigastric discomfort, feelings of heaviness or lightness in the head, breathlessness without exertion Useful (but specific to some cultures): Loss of voice, pain during intercourse, dizzy spells or seizure-like attacks without unconsciousness, burning in the sexual organs or rectum, unpleasant sensations in or around genitals Not useful (common but not specific): Sleep disturbance, irritability, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, dry mouth Not useful (rare and not specific): Deafness, complaints of vaginal discharge, urinary retention or difficulty urinating, amnesia, seizure or convulsion
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