Factitious Disorders in a Teaching Hospital

Abstract

To obtain an overview of factitious disorders in hospitalized patients we surveyed the cases found in our hospital during a 10-year period. Forty-one disorders were identified including one that was fatal and others that were chronic, severe, and life-threatening. The disorders fell into four subgroups: self-induced infections, simulated illnesses, chronic wounds, and surreptitious selfmedication. These subgroups had implications for prognosis and management. The patients included 39 women and 2 men, average age 33 years, 28 working in medical jobs. With three possible exceptions, none of the patients had Munchausen's syndrome and were not malingerers or sociopaths. Most of these patients