The Theoretical Construction of a Classification of Clinical Somatic Symptoms in Psychosomatic Medicine Theory

Objective This article adopts the perspective of psychosomatic medicine to present and test a theoretical model of the classification of clinical somatic symptoms. The theoretical model consists of four dimensions: emotional somatic symptoms, biological somatic symptoms, imaginative somatic symptoms, and cognitive somatic symptoms. Method A clinical somatic symptom classification scale was developed according to the theoretical model. A total of 542 participants completed the clinical somatic symptoms classification scale. The data were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Results The results confirmed the theoretical model. The analyses found that the proposed theoretical structure of the scale was good, as indicated by factor loadings and fit indices, and that the scale had good reliability and construct validity. Conclusions Based on the interpretation of the clinical symptoms of psychosomatic medicine, the treatment of chronic non-infectious diseases includes at least three dimensions: the first is the etiological treatment, the second is the pathophysiological and pathopsychological dimension, and the third is symptomatic treatment. The unified psychosomatic point of view and diverse clinical thinking modes are aimed at identifying different classes of somatic symptoms and important prerequisites for the treatment of these symptoms. We registered the study with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry and it was approved by the West China Hospital, Sichuan University ethics committee. Trial registration: The registration number is ChiCTR-OCS-14004632 (time: 2014-05-12).