Frequency of bodily distress syndrome in individuals with and without chronic disease who applied to primary care

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to investigate the prevalence of Bodily Distress Syndrome (BDS) and the relationship of chronic disease with BDS among individuals who applied to DEU AHAD E-ASMs. Method: Our study; This is a cross-sectional descriptive study involving 683 patients over the age of 45 from the DEU AHAD E-ASM universe. Sociodemographic information questionnaire, BDS Checklist, PHQ-4 questionnaire and visual analog scale (VAS) were applied to the participants by face to face interview method. With the BDS Checklist, individuals who have positive at least four symptoms were directed to E-ASMs and examined for their current complaints. Considering the symptoms that cannot be explained by the presence of existing chronic disease or that cannot be explained by a new diagnosis, if at least four symptoms remain positive and the symptoms caused concern and related loss of function in daily routine in the patient, it is accepted to have BDS. SPSS 22.0 package program was used for statistical analysis. Chi-square test was used to evaluate the data. The relationship between BDS and selected patient characteristics was evaluated using the enter and backwords methods in the logistic regression model. In all analyzes, p <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The frequency of BDS was found %12,2 (n: 104) in our study. For BDS; female gender (OR: 2,062 p: 0.02), anxiety(OR: 2,565, p: 0,004) and depression (OR: 1,0921 p: 0,047) are determined as risk factors; high school education was found to be a protective factor (OR: 0,350 p: 0,022). The presence of chronic disease was not associated with BDS. Conclusion: BDS can reduce the diagnostic confusion in the field of functional somatic syndromes and offer medical language a common language and background. The data of our study also provided empirical support for BDS diagnostic validity and strengthened the concept of BDS. Our findings also recognize BDS identifier for the future in Turkey, can form the basis of the longitudinal and interventional studies. However, longitudinal studies are needed to learn about the predictors, risk factors, prognosis and treatment of BDS. Key words: Bodily Distress Syndrome, chronic disease, primary care