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Somatization and Symptoms Evaluation
Author Bios
Introduction
Defining Somatization
Detecting Symptoms
Dimensions of Symptoms
Measuring Symptoms
Psychiatric Comorbidity
Currently selected section: Interpreting Symptom Measures
Functional Syndromes and Symptoms
Etiology of Symptoms
Levels of Etiological Certainty
Strengthening Etiological Classification
Confounding Etiological Factors
Symptoms and Patient Expectations
Interpreting Patient Responses
Measuring Multiple Symptoms
Global Rating of Change
Measuring Somatization
Measuring Other Domains
Conclusions


Chapter 16: Somatization and Symptoms Evaluation: Interpreting Symptom Measures
        

Problem 7.1

Two patients are entered in a trial evaluating a new medication for treatment of vertigo. If effective, this medication will be an important advance in treating a variety of vertiginous conditions, such as labyrinthitis, Meniere's disease, drug-related ototoxicity, and other symptomatic vestibular disorders. Baseline ratings of symptom severity for the two patients are shown in Figure 7.1 below.

Figure 7.1: Baseline Ratings of Symptom Severity
Severity of Vertigo in Patient A. Describe how bad your symptoms are, from 0 (none at all) to 10 (most severe possible). In this example, 7 is circled. Severity of Vertigo in Patient B. Describe how bad your symptoms are, from 0 (none at all) to 10 (most severe possible). In this example, 4 is circled. Reproduced with permission from Kroenke et al, Int. J. Methods Psychiatric Res.2003.

Question 7.1

Comparison of the baseline ratings is supportive evidence for the likelihood that Patient B has a milder vestibular disorder than Patient A.
Selection ATrue
Selection BFalse

 

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