RIFD – A brief clinical research interview for functional somatic disorders and health anxiety

Marie Weinreich Petersen*, Andreas Schröder, Torben Jørgensen, Eva Ørnbøl, Thomas Meinertz Dantoft, Marie Eliasen, Per Fink

*Corresponding author for this work
9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: Epidemiological research in functional somatic disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and bodily distress syndrome and related conditions such as health (illness)anxiety is often based on self-reported questionnaires or layman interviews. This study presents and describes the Research Interview for Functional somatic Disorders (RIFD)and provides first data regarding RIFD's ability to identify cases with functional somatic disorders and health anxiety in a two-phase design following self-reported symptom questionnaires. Methods: RIFD was performed by phone by trained family physicians on a stratified subsample of 1590 adults from a Danish general population cohort (n = 7493). Criterion validity was tested in a small preliminary test including 25 RIFD participants using Schedules of Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN), performed by a specialist in functional somatic disorders, as gold standard. Interrater reliability between interviewers was tested in 15 participants. Results: Compared with the comprehensive SCAN, preparation and conduction of RIFD were feasible and prompt. RIFD was well accepted by both interviewers and interviewees. RIFD identified cases with significantly more impairment than identified non-cases. Based on small preliminary tests, RIFD showed promising psychometric properties. Conclusion: RIFD was a feasible, well-accepted and promising instrument for use in large epidemiological studies. However, larger studies investigating its psychometric properties are needed.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Psychosomatic Research
Volume122
Pages (from-to)104-111
Number of pages8
ISSN0022-3999
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Keywords

  • Bodily distress
  • Functional somatic disorders
  • Functional somatic syndromes
  • Health anxiety
  • Illness anxiety
  • Schedules of clinical assessment in neuropsychiatry

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