Brief Description
The DSM-5 Level 2 Somatic Symptom (DSM-5 II Som) measures how much a person has been bothered by somatic (physical) symptoms such as headaches, back pain, nausea, or trouble sleeping. Somatic means related to the body (not the mind). The DSM-5 II Som can be used to help diagnose a client with Somatic Symptom Disorder, to track somatic symptoms associated with Somatic Symptom Disorder, and/or to track somatic-associated symptoms connected to another disorder or issue such as depression, anxiety, or panic. Respondents rate how often they are bothered by the somatic symptoms listed (e.g., “stomach pain”) on a scale from “Not bothered at all” to “Bothered a lot.”
Assessment Administration Type
Self-report
Number of questions
15
Age Range for Administration
18+
Recommended Frequency of Administration
Weekly; while it is most often used to monitor a client's progress week over week, it may be completed at other regular intervals as clinically indicated, depending on the stability of the individual’s symptoms and treatment status.
Summary of Scoring and Interpretations
The DSM-5 II Som contains 15 questions scored on a 3-point Likert scale with values from 0 (“Not bothered at all”) to 2 ("Bothered a lot"). A total score is calculated by summing the item responses and ranges from 0 to 30; higher scores are associated with more severe/prevalent somatic symptoms. See below for a table of total score interpretations.
Score | Level of Somatic Symptom Severity |
0-4 | Minimal |
5-9 | Low |
10-14 | Medium |
15-30 | High |
Blueprint Adjustments
N/A
Clinical Considerations
Estimated completion time: 3-5 minutes
Consistently high scores on a particular domain may indicate significant and problematic areas for the patient that might warrant further assessment, treatment, and follow-up. Your clinical judgment should guide your decision.
There are also child and parent-report versions.
This assessment is adapted from the Patient Health Questionnaire Physical Symptoms (PHQ-15), with one of the main changes involving frequency/cadence of administration; the PHQ-15 asks about symptoms over the last 4 weeks while the DSM-5 II Som asks about symptoms over the last week.
Citation
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