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Decreased Autonomic Reactivity and Psychiatric Comorbidities in Neurological Patients With Medically Unexplained Sensory Symptoms: A Case-Control Study.

ABSTRACT: Up to 48% of patients with medically unexplained symptoms seen in neurological practice suffer from sensory symptoms, which could be of functional nature or secondary to psychiatric disorders. These patients show high medical care utilization causing elevated healthcare costs. Despite the high prevalence, little is known about clinical characteristics and pathophysiological mechanisms. For functional disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, a reduction of heart rate variability (HRV) has been shown, suggesting a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The aim of this study was to investigate psychological data and functional changes of the ANS in patients with medically unexplained sensory symptoms (MUSS). In this exploratory pilot study, 16 patients (11 females, 31.6 ± 11.9 years) with MUSS, who were recruited at a single tertiary neurological center, underwent a structured clinical interview (SCID) to evaluate psychiatric comorbidities. Patients and age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers filled in questionnaires, and individual sensory thresholds (perception, pain) were detected by quantitative sensory testing (QST). HRV was assessed at baseline and under three different experimental conditions (tonic pain stimulus, placebo application, cold-face test). All tests were repeated after 6-8 weeks. SCID interviews revealed clinical or subclinical diagnoses of psychiatric comorbidities for 12 patients. Questionnaires assessing somatization, depression, anxiety, and perceived stress significantly discriminated between patients with MUSS and healthy controls. While there was no difference in QST, reduced ANS reactivity was found in patients during experimental conditions, particularly with regard to vagally mediated HRV. Our pilot study of neurological patients with MUSS reveals a high prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities and provides evidence for altered ANS function. Our data thus give insight in possible underlying mechanisms for these symptoms and may open the door for a better diagnostic and therapeutic approach for these patients in the future.

SUBMITTER: Ruschil V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8453010 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundIn primary and secondary care medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) or functional somatic syndromes (FSS) constitute a major burden for patients and society with high healthcare costs and societal costs. Objectives were to provide an overview of the evidence regarding the cost-effectiveness of interventions for MUS or FSS, and to assess the quality of these studies.MethodsWe searched the databases PubMed, PsycINFO, the National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database (NHS-EED) and the CEA registry to conduct a systematic review. Articles with full economic evaluations on interventions focusing on adult patients with undifferentiated MUS or fibromyalgia (FM), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), with no restrictions on comparators, published until 15 June 2018, were included. We excluded preventive interventions. Two reviewers independently extracted study characteristics and cost-effectiveness data and used the Consensus on Health Economic Criteria Checklist to appraise the methodological quality.ResultsA total of 39 studies out of 1,613 articles met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-two studies reported costs per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained and cost-utility analyses (CUAs). In 13 CUAs the intervention conditions dominated the control conditions or had an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio below the willingness-to-pay threshold of € 50,000 per QALY, meaning that the interventions were (on average) cost-effective in comparison with the control condition. Group interventions focusing on MUS (n = 3) or FM (n = 4) might be more cost-effective than individual interventions. The included studies were heterogeneous with regard to the included patients, interventions, study design, and outcomes.ConclusionThis review provides an overview of 39 included studies of interventions for patients with MUS and FSS and the methodological quality of these studies. Considering the limited comparability due to the heterogeneity of the studies, group interventions might be more cost-effective than individual interventions.RegistrationStudy methods were documented in an international prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO) protocol, registration number: CRD42017060424.

Project description:To conduct a pilot trial of a primary care Symptoms Clinic for patients with medically unexplained symptoms and evaluate recruitment and retention, and acceptability of the intervention and to estimate potential treatment effects for a full trial.Randomised parallel group pilot trial.Primary care in one locality.Primary care database and postal questionnaire were used to identify patients with multiple specialist referrals and multiple physical symptoms unlikely to be explained by disease.General practitioner (GP) with special interest 'Symptoms Clinic' + usual care versus usual care alone. The Symptoms Clinic comprised one long (1 h) and three short (20 min) appointments.Number of patients identified and recruited; acceptability of the intervention (items from Client Satisfaction Questionnaire and interview); Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form 12 (SF-12) physical component summary.Automated blocked randomisation accessed by telephone.None. NUMBERS RANDOMIZED: 16 to intervention and 16 to usual care alone.72 patients, from seven GP practices, had repeated specialist referrals and a Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-15 score of ?10 indicating a high probability of medically unexplained symptoms. 15 were ineligible and 25 declined to participate. NUMBERS ANALYSED: 26 patients; two patients randomised to the intervention group were incorrectly included, three patients in the intervention group and one control did not complete outcome measures.Most patients randomised to the Symptoms Clinic found the intervention acceptable: eight out of 11 reported the intervention helped them to deal with their problems. The mean difference between groups in SF-12 physical component summary, adjusted for baseline, was 3.8 points (SD 6).No observed harms.Patients with multiple medically unexplained symptoms can be systematically identified in primary care; a randomised trial comparing the Symptoms Clinic with usual care is feasible and has the potential to show clinically meaningful benefit.ISRCTN63083469.

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Decreased Autonomic Reactivity and Psychiatric Comorbidities in Neurological Patients With Medically Unexplained Sensory Symptoms: A Case-Control Study.

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