ArticleBMC family practice2011
The interpretation of low mood and worry by high users of secondary care with medically unexplained symptoms.
Article in BMC family practice, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychiatric characteristics of older persons with medically unexplained symptoms: A comparison with older patients suffering from medically explained symptoms.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2020Article
- Patients' descriptions of the relation between physical symptoms and negative emotions: a qualitative analysis of primary care consultations.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020Article
- Recognition of patients with medically unexplained physical symptoms by family physicians: results of a focus group study.BMC family practice · 2016Article
- Depression diagnosis and treatment amongst multimorbid patients: a thematic analysis.BMC family practice · 2014Article
- A primary care Symptoms Clinic for patients with medically unexplained symptoms: pilot randomised trial.BMJ open · 2012Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAround 1% of adults are repeatedly referred from primary to secondary care with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS); many of these patients have depression and anxiety disorders which are unrecognized or inadequately treated. We aimed to investigate the ways patients with MUS and their General Practitioners (GPs) interpret low mood and worry, whether they regard them as depressive or anxiety disorders and how they relate them causally to symptoms.
methodsWe carried out semi-structured interviews with 27 patients who had been repeatedly referred to specialists for MUS and their GPs and analysed transcripts by qualitative comparison. The analysis examined themes relating to low mood and worry, and their influence on symptoms. It drew on the concept of "otherness", whereby mental phenomena can be located either within the self or as separate entities.
resultsBoth patients and GPs acknowledged the presence of low mood and worry. They viewed low mood as either an individual's personal response to circumstances (including their physical symptoms) or as the illness called "depression"; only the latter was amenable to medical intervention. Worry was seen as a trait rather than as a symptom of an anxiety disorder. While low mood and worry were acknowledged to influence physical symptoms, they were considered insufficient to be the main cause by either the patients or their doctors.
conclusionsPatients with MUS who are high users of secondary care services interpret low mood and worry in ways which allow them to be discussed with professionals, but not as the cause of their physical symptoms.
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Registered trials
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