Observational studyBMC health services research2016
The association between medically unexplained physical symptoms and health care use over two years and the influence of depressive and anxiety disorders and personality traits: a longitudinal study.
Observational study in BMC health services research, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04751825 (Internet-based Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy for Somatic Symptom Disorder - A Randomized Controlled Trial), which is not on this map. Cited by 15 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Internet-based Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy for Somatic Symptom Disorder - A Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- The randomized clinical trial results of the anxiety treatment in patients with somatoform dysfunction and neurotic disorders.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Determinants of the number of dental visits in the general adult population in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Article
- Survey of Health Literacy Among Japanese Outpatients with Mental Illness.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2023Article
- The Doctor Is In(ternet): The Mediating Role of Health Anxiety in the Relationship between Somatic Symptoms and Cyberchondria.Journal of personalized medicine · 2022Article
- Type D Personality and Big Five Personality Traits and the Risk of Breast Cancer: A Case-Control Study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Assessing measurement equivalence of the Danish and Dutch Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire using differential item and test functioning analysis.Scandinavian journal of public health · 2021Article
- Psychopathology and Somatic Complaints: A Cross-Sectional Study with Portuguese Adults.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Framing the process in the implementation of care for people with generalized anxiety disorder in primary care: a qualitative evidence synthesis.BMC family practice · 2020Article
- Personality, Healthcare Use and Costs-A Systematic Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- Medically unexplained symptoms: time to and triggers for diagnosis in primary care consultations.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020Article
- Explanation of somatic symptoms by mental health and personality traits: application of Bayesian regularized quantile regression in a large population study.BMC psychiatry · 2019Article
- The association between patients' expectations and experiences of task-, affect- and therapy-oriented communication and their anxiety in medically unexplained symptoms consultations.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2019Article
- Article
- Is uncertain vulvovaginal candidiasis a marker of vulvodynia? A study in a Dutch general practice research database.BJGP open · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMedically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) are highly prevalent and are associated with frequent health care use (HCU). MUPS frequently co-occur with psychiatric disorders. With this study we examined the longitudinal association between MUPS and HCU over 2 years and the influence of depressive and anxiety disorders and personality traits on this association.
methodsWe analysed follow-up data from 2045 to 2981 participants from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA), a multisite cohort study. The study population included participants with a current depressive and/or anxiety disorder, participants with a lifetime risk and/or subthreshold symptoms for depressive and/or anxiety disorders and healthy controls. HCU, measured with the Trimbos and iMTA questionnaire on Costs associated with Psychiatric illness (TIC-P), was operationalized as the number of used medical services and the number of associated contacts. MUPS were measured with the Four Dimensional Symptoms Questionnaire, depressive and anxiety disorders with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and personality traits with the NEO Five-Factory Inventory. Measurements were taken at baseline, 1 and 2 years follow-up. We used generalized estimating equations (GEE), using HCU at all three measurements as (multivariate) outcome. GEE also takes into account the dependency of observations within participants.
resultsMUPS were positively associated with HCU over 2 years (medical services: RR 1.020, 95 % CI 1.017-1.022; contacts: RR 1.037, 95 % CI 1.030-1.044). Neuroticism and depression had the strongest influence on the associations. After adjustment for these factors, the associations between MUPS and HCU weakened, but remained significant (services: RR 1.011, 95 % CI 1.008-1.014; contacts: RR 1.023, 95 % CI 1.015-1.032).
conclusionsOur results show that MUPS were positively associated with HCU over 2 years, even after adjusting for depressive and anxiety disorders and personality traits.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.