Clinical Psychology and Neuroscience

Biography

Yousif Ali Yaseen is awarded F.I.B.M.S in Psychiatry from Iraqi Board for Medical Specializations, Iraq. He holds a Bachelor in Medicine & General Surgery (M.B.Ch.B.) from College of Medicine, University of   Duhok, Iraq. He has extended his valuable service as Senior Psychiatrist in Psychiatric Department , Azadi Teaching Hospital-Duhok. Currently, he is working as an Assistant Professor for branch of Psychiatry in University of Duhok. His international experience includes various programs, contributions and participation in different countries for diverse fields of study.  His research interests reflect in his wide range of publications in various national and international journals. He is a Consultant Psychiatrist at UNHCR and GIZ in collaboration with DGoH- Duhok. He is a Member of the founding body of the Kurdistan Psychiatric Association (KPA) in 2017.

 

Abstract

Background: This study aimed at assessing the prevalence and risk factors of Somatoform disorders (SDs), their types and common presenting symptoms of conversion disorder (CD).

Patients & Methods: This study had been conducted at outpatient Psychiatric Clinic in Azadi Teaching Hospital, Duhok City, in which 637 patients were selected randomly. (SCID-I/P) (Version 2.0) was applied to diagnose patients with SDs. (SPSS), version 21, was used for data analysis.

Results: The prevalence of SDs appeared to be (24%). CD comprised the vast majority of SDs 75.82%, followed by somatization disorder 7.84% and undifferentiated SD 5.22%. Most of the cases were females (75.85%), the result showed high statistical significant association of the gender to SD (p-value<0.001). Majority of the cases were from the youngest age group (15-25 years), they comprised (60.1%), the association of the age to SD appeared statistically significant too (p-value=0.024). Although, more than two-third of the cases were from lower educational levels (illiterate and primary educational level) (67.3%), more than fifty percent were married (52.3%), majority were housewives (39.2%) and more than half of the cases were from urban areas (52.3%), but no significant association were found between SD and educational level, marital status, occupation, and residence (p-values were 0.218, 0.659, 0.072, 0.090 respectively). Regarding the symptomatic presentation of CD, vast majority of the cases presented with seizure which comprised (81%), followed by motor symptoms which comprised (17.2%), and sensory symptoms which constituted (1.7%) only.

Conclusions: The prevalence of SDs appeared high; the vast majority cases of SDs were CD. The risk factors for SDs included being female and young. Regarding the presenting symptoms of CD, seizures comprised the vast majority.