Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34524264›Full record

SynthesisPsychosomatic medicine2022

Early Psychological Interventions for Somatic Symptom Disorder and Functional Somatic Syndromes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Lukas Berezowski, Lea Ludwig, Alexandra Martin, Bernd Löwe, Meike C Shedden-Mora

Open access · hybridAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Psychosomatic medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
3.1field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 32 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Observational
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Lukas BerezowskiFrom the Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Movement Sciences (Berezowski, Ludwig), University of Hamburg, Hamburg; Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy (Martin), University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal; Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy (Löwe, Shedden-Mora), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf; and Department of Psychology (Shedden-Mora), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf & Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Lea Ludwig
Alexandra Martin
Bernd Löwe
Meike C Shedden-Mora
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf · DEUniversität Hamburg · DEUniversity of Wuppertal · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivePsychological treatments for somatic symptom disorder and functional somatic syndromes (SSD/FSS) achieve moderate effects only, potentially because of the high chronicity in these patients. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate whether early treatment, that is, treatment in populations at risk or with recent onset, improves outcome.

methodsWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of (cluster-)randomized controlled trials evaluating early psychological interventions in the prevention and treatment of SSD/FSS in adults compared with inactive control conditions, standard care, or placebo. Individuals at risk for SSD/FSS, suffering from subthreshold symptoms or new onsets of SSD/FSS, or presenting with SSD/FSS for the first time were included.

resultsWe identified 30 eligible studies, mostly examining pain-related conditions. Interventions were diverse, ranging from bibliotherapy to cognitive-behavioral therapy. We found positive effects on depression post-treatment (Hedges' g = 0.12 [95% confidence interval = 0.03-0.2], k = 5) as well as on somatic symptom severity (g = 0.25 [0.096-0.41], k = 17) and health care utilization (g = 0.31 [0.18-0.44], k = 3) at follow-up. However, because of a high risk of bias, sensitivity to corrections for meta-bias, and missing outcome data, findings should be interpreted cautiously.

conclusionsOur review shows that targeting SSD/FSS at an early stage represents a conceptual and practical challenge. Readily accessible interventions addressing transsymptomatic processes of SSD/FSS development and consolidation are highly needed. Future studies are needed to evaluate individuals with diverse symptoms, examine symptom history thoroughly, use placebo controls, and report outcomes completely to determine the efficacy of early psychological interventions for SSD/FSS.PROSPERO Registration:CRD42020140122.

Indexed as

Cognitive Behavioral TherapyMedically Unexplained SymptomsAdultHumansPsychosocial InterventionSomatoform DisordersSyndrome

Identifiers

PMID34524264
PMCPMC8983947
OpenAlexW3201579900

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.