Improving mental health through body-awareness with dynamic interpersonal therapy in patients with persistent somatic symptoms: an explorative cohort study

Introduction: This study explored the changes in mental health and body-awareness in patients with severe persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) treated with multidisciplinary Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy. Methods: In this longitudinal study 56 patients with severe somatic-symptom disorder (DSM-5) were included. Analyses were conducted on available outcome data from 32-38 patients. All were treated with a multidisciplinary DIT program for 6 months in a specialized care facility. Patients were followed up during treatment with the questionnaires Mental Health Continuum Short Form (MHC-SF) and Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) at baseline, 3 months and 6 months. Change was analysed with repeated measures ANOVA. The association between change in MAIA and change in MHC-SF was explored with linear regression analysis. Results: Both mental health (MHC-SF total score 28 to 33, p