Delayed diagnosis of Crohn's disease in an adolescent: psychiatric implications.

S omatoform disorders comprise a group of psychiatric illnesses in which patients report physical symptoms that cannot be fully accounted for by a known medical condition. In children and adolescents somatization can result in significant disability and functional impairment including poor academic performance and serious emotional and behavioural psychopathology (Campo et al., 1999). Somatization is common in children and adolescents. The Ontario Child Health Study demonstrated a somatization syndrome in 4.5% of boys and 10.7% of girls ages 12 to 16 (Offord et al., 1987). Unnecessary medical and surgical procedures are often performed on patients with somatoform disorders and may lead to iatrogenic complications.