ArticleBMC family practice2020
Interrelationships between symptom burden and health functioning and health care utilization among veterans with persistent physical symptoms.
Article in BMC family practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- The overlooked burden of persistent physical symptoms: a call for action in European healthcare.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2025Review
- Inequity in the healthcare utilization among latent classes of elderly people with chronic diseases and decomposition analysis in China.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBetween 10 and 50% of primary care patients present with persistent physical symptoms (PPS). Patients with PPS tend to utilize excessive or inappropriate health care services, while being stuck in a deleterious cycle of inactivity, deconditioning, and further worsening of symptoms and disability. Since military deployment (relative to non-deployment) is associated with greater likelihood of PPS, we examined the interrelationships of health care utilization, symptom burden and functioning among a sample of recently deployed Veterans with new onset persistent physical symptoms.
methodsThis study analyzed a cohort of 790 U.S. soldiers who recently returned from deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. Data for this analysis were obtained at pre- and post-deployment. We used moderation analyses to evaluate interactions between physical symptom burden and physical and mental health functioning and four types of health care utilization one-year after deployment, after adjusting for key baseline measures.
resultsModeration analyses revealed significant triple interactions between physical symptom burden and health functioning and: primary care (F = 3.63 [2, 303], R
conclusionsAmong U.S. Veterans with newly emerging persistent physical symptoms one-year after deployment, increased physical symptom burden coupled with decreased physical and increased mental health functioning was associated with increased medical care use in the year after deployment. These findings support whole health initiatives aimed at improving health function/well-being, rather than merely symptom alleviation.
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Registered trials
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