The Association of Sensory Responsiveness with Somatic Symptoms and Illness Anxiety

Abstract

Background: Somatoform Disorders or Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders are a major public health problem.The pathophysiology underlying these disorders is not yet understood.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore if sensory responsiveness could contribute to a better understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms underlying two key symptoms of Somatoform Disorders, namely somatic symptoms and illness anxiety.

Methods: We measured vibrotactile perception thresholds with the HVLab Perception Meter and examined their association with somatic symptoms, illness anxiety and trait anxiety. A sample of 205 volunteers participated in the study.

Results: Sensory responsiveness was neither associated with somatic symptoms (β = -0.01; 95% confidence interval (CI), -0.37, 0.39) nor trait anxiety (β = -0.07; 95% CI, -0.30, 0.07). However, lower vibrotactile perception thresholds were associated with increased scores of the overall illness anxiety scale (β = -0.65; 95% CI, -1.21, -0.14) and its constituent subscale disease conviction (β = -2.07; 95% CI, -3.94, -0.43).

Conclusions: Our results suggest that increased sensory responsiveness is associated with illness anxiety and hence should be examined further as potential target within the etiopathology of somatoform disorders.

Keywords: Illness anxiety; Medically unexplained somatic symptoms; Sensory responsiveness; Vibrotactile perception threshold.