Value of clinico-psychiatric assessment in the diagnosis of chronic intractable pain in abdomen.

To evaluate the role of psychiatric illness in patients with chronic abdominal pain, 50 patients with this symptom were subjected to thorough clinical examination, detailed investigations and Goldberg's 60-item General Health Questionnaire. Those scoring 12 in this questionnaire were subjected to a detailed psychiatric evaluation. Sixteen (32%) patients had pure organic illnesses, 8 (16%) had organic illness with associated psychiatric factors and 26 (52%) had definite psychiatric illness. We conclude that chronic abdominal pain is often associated with psychiatric illness.