Investigation of knowledge, skill, attitude and perception of specialist physicians about management of cases with somatic symptom disorder

'Somatic symptom disorder' refers to a group of symptoms or cases named in different ways since the past. In order to identify this symptom group or cases in the disease classification, terms such as 'medical symptoms', 'somatoform disorder', 'physical stress syndrome', 'psychosomatic disorder', 'somatic symptom disorder' were used over time. In these cases, the symptoms may be in a range that extends to severe symptoms that can cause mild and self-limiting situations or severe symptoms that can cause loss of function or seriously disrupting the quality of life. In our study, the term 'somatic symptom disorder' (SSD), which has been widely accepted recently, has been used. SSD cases are cases where physicians encounter quite frequently in outpatient clinics. In this context, it is aimed to review the terminology, classification, diagnostic and treatment approaches for SSD and to investigate the knowledge, skills, attitudes and perceptions of specialist physicians working in secondary and tertiary health units in our region. Our study confirms that there is a large workload in our country in outpatient clinics in cases of SSD. 77.4% of the participants stated that they faced 1-10 or more SSD cases per week. When they encounter the SSD case, the most common feelings of the participants were; fear of skipping diagnosis (34,2%), interest/curiosity (23.6%) and indifference (12,5%). The most preferred management strategies of the participants regarding SSD cases were; 'listening to the patient' (54.3%), 'giving information' (15.9%), 'provide trust and support' (11.5%). Our study revealed the difficulties of specialist physicians to deal with SBB cases and their workloads in this field. It is important to develop diagnosis, treatment and management guidelines for the management of these cases for specialist physicians, and to eliminate the lack of education of physicians in this field.