Somatic symptom disorder in patients with myocardial bridge: cross-sectional study in China.

Background: Myocardial bridge contributes to chest pain, often accompanied by non-specific complaints.

Aims: Our study aims to determine somatic symptom disorder (SSD) prevalence in patients with myocardial bridge, investigating associated clinical and psychological features.

Method: In this prospective cross-sectional study, we enrolled 1357 participants (337 with and 1020 without myocardial bridge) from Shanghai Renji Hospital. The Somatic Symptom Scale-China questionnaire was used to assess SSD. Depressive and anxiety disorders were assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7).

Results: The prevalence of SSD in the myocardial bridge group was 63.2%, higher than the group without myocardial bridge (53.8%). Patients with myocardial bridge were at an increased risk of SSD (odds ratio 1.362, 95% CI 1.026-1.809; = 0.033). There were no differences in the mean PHQ-9 scores (3.2 ± 3.4 . 3.2 ± 4.1; = 0.751) or GAD-7 scores (2.5 ± 3.0 . 2.3 ± 3.7; = 0.143) between the two groups. Among patients with myocardial bridge, gender was the only independent risk factor for SSD. Women were 3.119 times more likely to experience SSD compared with men (95% CI 1.537-6.329; = 0.002).

Conclusions: Our findings emphasise the high prevalence and severity of SSD among patients with myocardial bridge. The screening for SSD should be of particular concern, especially among female patients.