SynthesisThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2019
CBT to reduce healthcare use for medically unexplained symptoms: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cognitive-behavioural therapy compared with standardised medical care for adults with dissociative non-epileptic seizures: the CODES RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2021Trial
- Who benefits from multidisciplinary care in functional somatic disorders? Identifying cost-effective patient selection through diagnostic classification groups.Israel journal of health policy research · 2026Article
- Article
- Non-visible disability in the medical curriculum: what medicine overlooks, patients inherit.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Efficacy of cognitive and behavioral therapy (CBT) treatment for individuals living with symptoms associated with environmental factors (SAEF): protocol for a randomized controlled trial.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Somatization and Body Composition: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study on Non-Clinical Young Adults.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- A Conditional Process Model to Explain Somatization During Coronavirus Disease 2019 Epidemic: The Interaction Among Resilience, Perceived Stress, and Sex.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Treating medically unexplained symptoms via improving access to psychological therapy (IAPT): major limitations identified.BMC psychology · 2020Review
- Medically unexplained symptoms: are we making progress?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019Article
- Medically unexplained symptoms: are we making progress?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019Article
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2 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStudies have reported that medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) tend to be associated with increased healthcare use, which is demanding of resources and potentially harmful to patients. This association is often used to justify the funding and study of psychological interventions for MUS, yet no systematic review has specifically examined the efficacy of psychological interventions in reducing healthcare use.
aimTo conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapies (CBT) for MUS in reducing healthcare use. DESIGN AND
settingSystematic review and meta-analysis.
methodThe search from a previous systematic review was updated and expanded. Twenty-two randomised controlled trials reported healthcare use, of which 18 provided data for meta-analysis. Outcomes were healthcare contacts, healthcare costs, medication, and medical investigations.
resultsSmall reductions in healthcare contacts and medication use were found for CBT compared with active controls, treatment as usual, and waiting list controls, but not for medical investigations or healthcare costs.
conclusionCognitive behavioural interventions show weak benefits in reducing healthcare use in people with MUS. The imprecise use of MUS as a diagnostic label may impact on the effectiveness of interventions, and it is likely that the diversity and complexity of these difficulties may necessitate a more targeted approach.
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