[Hospital admissions in adolescents with psychosomatic illnesses]. / Ingresos hospitalarios en adolescentes con enfermedades psicosomáticas.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of hospital admissions due to psychosomatic diseases in the adolescents. To define the most frequent symptomatology that accompanies these disorders, the triggering factors, the complementary tests made and the possible existence of psychiatric illness in the parents. PATIENTS AND METHOD: A retrospective study was carried out with patients of 10 to 18 years who were admitted to the Niño Jesús Children's Hospital during the period from January 2002 to August 2006, whose discharge diagnosis included symptomatology of psychosomatic origin. RESULTS: The number of medical histories was 33. In this period the frequency of admissions due to psychosomatic diseases was 2.6 %. We found a predominance of female patients, with an average age of 11.5 years; the most frequent symptom was abdominal pain, isolated or accompanied by other pathology. The duration of the symptom before going to the hospital was 11 days. In 13/33 (39.4 %) of the cases previous symptoms of psychosomatic aetiology existed. The complementary study to discard organic disease was negative in all cases. The average stay was 5 days. The existence of triggering factors was found in 21/33 (63.6 %), school problems being the most common. In 7/33 (21 %) there was a family history of psychiatric disease. CONCLUSIONS: The most frequent somatic symptom was abdominal pain, being the triggering factor in most of the patients. The complementary study did not find significant abmormalities. In one out of five cases there was a family history of psychiatric disease. It is recommended to give these patients multidisciplinary care from the beginning of the stay, using consultation and link technique.

Ingresos hospitalarios en adolescentes con enfermedades psicosomáticas / Hospital admissions in adolescents with psychosomatic illnesses

Objetivos: Determinar la prevalencia de ingresos hospitalarios por enfermedades psicosomáticas en la edad adolescente. Definir la sintomatología más frecuente que acompaña a estos trastornos, los factores desencadenantes, las pruebas complementarias realizadas y la posible existencia de patología psiquiátrica en las figuras parentales. Pacientes y método: Se llevó a cabo un estudio descriptivo de tipo retrospectivo, durante el período comprendido entre enero de 2002 y agosto de 2006, en pacientes de 10 a 18 años ingresados en el Hospital Infantil Universitario Niño Jesús cuyo diagnóstico al alta incluía patología de origen psicosomático. Resultados: El número de historias recogidas fue de 33, lo que representa una prevalencia del 2,6 %. Se encontró un predominio de pacientes con sexo femenino, con edad media de 11,5 años, cuyo síntoma más frecuente fue el dolor abdominal aislado o acompañante de otra patología. La duración del síntoma antes de acudir al hospital fue de 11 días. En 13 de los 33 casos (39,4 %) existían síntomas previos de etiología psicosomática. El estudio complementario fue negativo en todos los casos. La media de ingreso fue de 5 días. Se encontraron factores desencadenantes en 21 de los 33 (63,6 %), de los cuales los problemas escolares fueron los más frecuentes. En 7 de los 33 (21 %) existían antecedentes de patología psiquiátrica familiar. Conclusiones: El síntoma somatomorfo más frecuente de ingreso en adolescentes fue el dolor abdominal, y existieron factores desencadenantes estresantes en la mayoría de los pacientes. El estudio complementario para descartar patología somática no encontró alteraciones significativas. En un caso de cada cinco existe patología psiquiátrica familiar. Es recomendable la atención al enfermo de forma multidisciplinaria desde el inicio del ingreso mediante técnicas de interconsulta y enlace

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of hospital admissions due to psychosomatic diseases in the adolescents. To define the most frequent symptomatology that accompanies these disorders, the triggering factors, the complementary tests made and the possible existence of psychiatric illness in the parents. Patients and method: A retrospective study was carried out with patients of 10 to 18 years who were admitted to the Niño Jesús Children's Hospital during the period from January 2002 to August 2006, whose discharge diagnosis included symptomatology of psychosomatic origin. Results: The number of medical histories was 33. In this period the frequency of admissions due to psychosomatic diseases was 2.6 %. We found a predominance of female patients, with an average age of 11.5 years; the most frequent symptom was abdominal pain, isolated or accompanied by other pathology. The duration of the symptom before going to the hospital was 11 days. In 13/33 (39.4 %) of the cases previous symptoms of psychosomatic aetiology existed. The complementary study to discard organic disease was negative in all cases. The average stay was 5 days. The existence of triggering factors was found in 21/33 (63.6 %), school problems being the most common. In 7/33 (21 %) there was a family history of psychiatric disease. Conclusions: The most frequent somatic symptom was abdominal pain, being the triggering factor in most of the patients. The complementary study did not find significant abmormalities. In one out of five cases there was a family history of psychiatric disease. It is recommended to give these patients multidisciplinary care from the beginning of the stay, using consultation and link technique